Of Hope and Destruction
by Everon Prime
Summary: They tell me I'm their hope. Both sides say it. What I make them hope for varies, but with each passing day, I question myself. Can I be the hope they yearn for? Can I bring peace or, at the very least, a victory to end the bloodshed? Or, as some have said, will I be their destruction? Funny, how the two seem to coincide...
1. Chapter 1

The day was gorgeous. Perfect and serene, one that might have been a wonderful memory to look back onto had everything not gone to hell.

Unfortunately, that day marked an important turning point in my life. One that I shall never forgot, but one which I shall remember and replay in my head for the rest of my life, however long that life is.

No matter how many times they tell me that there is nothing I could do, I still can't help but carry around the blame in the back of my mind. I try to hide it. I'm their hope, their reason to fight they say. Were it not for my love for them, I would have given up long ago.

But I fight for them. I fight for this planet I grew up on. And I fight for all the fallen on both sides of the battles, because even though I have chosen my side, part of me does lie with the others. I hope for peace between the two sides. I hope to avenge all the lives lost in the battles, for all of those who have died in this war, including myself. I only hope that I don't destory those care about in the process.

I know much of hope and destruction.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Now, back to that not so perfect day.

The sun shown down on the calm and quiet landscape, with birds singing overhead. The only break in the quiet is the steady humming of oncoming car. Funny how the calm always precedes the storm.

Now to most people, the engine noise would be an unwelcome intrusion to this scene, but to me, the sound is like my favorite lullaby. When I was little, being driven around by my father or one of his team was the only way to get me to sleep. Even the loudest of engine roars were favored by my infant self.

To give the situation more clarity, I sat in said car, a deep almost blood red colored Challenger decked out in a high shine chrome finish and featuring a pair of chrome horns on the hood, as it sped through the serene scene. I was not driving, but my friend, one who I had grown to call my brother, controlled the car.

Actually, he was the car.

"So there I am, on the lookout, when out of nowhere these high beams light up my rearview. And then it hits me: I'm illegally parked!" Cliffjumper. I could go on for ages telling you about him. If he were around, he could easily go on for even longer telling you about himself. Most would find his constant chatter unbearable, but I lived for his stories. Any of the team's stories really. I just loved to listen, to learn. I know, that's not exactly the 'normal' behavior for the average teenager, but as you have probably surmised, I'm not exactly normal.

"Another parking ticket?" Arcee. Cliffjumper's partner. Another member of my dad's team. I should explain said team a bit more in detail, but that will come soon enough. Anyway, Arcee is one of the few people who can not only put up with Cliffjumper, but actually enjoy his company. If you met her, you might be surprised at first by the pair given her sarcastic and sometimes easily frustrated nature, but if you knew them like I do, you would understand. They balance each other. And from what I have heard about their action in the field, they balance each other well.

"Better," Cliff responded almost excitedly. "The boot." They were currently speaking to each other over their communicators, seeing as how both were patrolling in completely different areas.

"Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove." Whereas Cliffjumper was a car, Arcee's motor form was much smaller: a dark blue rice rocket with the occasional pale pink accents. The pink however is the closest to girly as Arcee gets though. Though I wasn't with her, I can picture her driving some deserted and dusty road with her holoform which she affectionately named Sadie.

"Bingo! So the local police dude does their thing, and I let them get all the way down the block. That's when I kick off my new shiny shoe and, bam!"

"New York's finest soil themselves."

"You know me, Arcee. Mess with Cliffjumper…."

"…And you get the horns. Not sure how that complies with Autobot rule number 1: keep a low profile."

"What can I say? Patrolling for energon out here in dullsville gets lonesome. Almost makes me miss the Decepticons."

"Like Jasper, Nevada's a party? We're alone wherever we travel on this rock, Cliff. Besides, at least you have Everon with you. Though she has been awfully quiet. Don't tell me she is sleeping again."

"I heard that." Up until this point, I had been content with listening to their banter while I remained curled up in Cliff's passenger seat. As they bantered, I had been zoning in and out of their conversation while I intently added the final details to the latest addition to my sketchbook. I'm actually quite surprised by how clear this memory is.

"Leave the struggling artist be. She's been working on the piece for a good few hours. I mean, with the attention she's giving it rather than me, I hope it's a portrait of yours truly." I remain silent and dart my eyes back to the sketch pad before, pretending to erase some mistake on the corner of the page that I hadn't even drew on. "Wait a minute: it is of me, isn't it? Score!"

"Oh boy. You do realize that his head didn't need anymore inflating?"

I sigh. "It's not very good. I've been so focused with school and finishing my bike not to mention keeping up with my studies with Ratchet that I have become extremely rusty in my sketching skills. My visual recall sketches need some serious fine tuning."

"Ev," Cliff says in an almost serious voice, "You say that about any work you do, whether it's for school, Ratchet, or your personal artwork, and no matter what it always turns out amazing."

Arcee cut in. "Between your natural skill and near photographic memory, everything you do is amazing,"

I don't really say anything for a moment. I just stare out the window. When I respond, the words are a little slow and measured. "No ones perfect. Especially me. I've been putting extra effort into everything lately, especially my studies with Ratchet. I want to help the team as much as possible. The artwork is just a way to relax and remember why I study so hard in the first place. Not only because I enjoy the medical and scientific work Ratchet does, but because I want to make a difference on the team. I just…"

My words taper off, and I can hear Cliff begin to respond, but he stops all of a sudden. His dashboard screen begin to beep, and his display a signal of some kind near his position. "I'm getting a signal."

"Need backup?" Arcee asks with a hint of excitement in her tone.

"Do I ever need backup? Besides, I have all the backup I need right here." I remember how my face felt like it was almost splitting from the grin I gave as I threw my papers and pencils into my messenger bag styled purse on the floor and raked my long, dark brown hair and it's unnaturally, but in reality completely natural, red highlights back into a ponytail. The shade of red matches that of Cliffjumper's paintjob. They sort of just started to grow in around the age of twelve. No one knows why, but I like them. I believe they suit me.

When it comes to a fashion sense, I don't really have one. My sense of style varies by the day from rocker chick to hippie to the occasional mix somewhere in between. The only constant in my style is that I like to preen. That is, style my hair, apply my heavily shadowed and smoky eye colors, and where stand-outish lip stick colors. But no matter what I wear, I always sport an ever so precious pair of dog tags around my neck, which I never let out of my sight.

Today I went casual, seeing as how I spent most of it cooped up riding in Cliff, but even with my outfit consisting of a formfitting Evanescence t-shirt and sweatpants, my makeup still consisted of a silver smoky eye-shadow blend with an exaggerated black liquid liner, mascara, and a light coating of purple lipstick which all together complements my high cheekbones and ivory colored skin. Some of the others, especially Ratchet, have mentioned how they feel I do not need the extensive preening, but I blame an old friend whom you shall meet later for the habits.

Arcee spoke up with a serious and pointed note to Cliffjumper. "Be careful, especially with her. Prime will have your head if something were to happen to her."

"Noted. And trust me, I will be as protective as always with her. She will be safe."

I give a sharp snort and respond with a bit of a clipped tone to the pair. "'She' can still hear you two. And I am perfectly capable of handling myself."

Cliff chuckles as Arcee responds. "Of course you are. Just be safe. Both of you."

"Don't worry Arcee. Everything will be fine." Cliff says. Oh, how I wish that had been true.

We swerve off road, and Cliff skids to a stop next to a deep chasm. In it was a large collection of shards which I had grown familiar with over my lifetime. "We just found a whole lot of energon," Cliff happily reports over the comm link. Just as he finishes his statement, a dark shadow forms overhead.

All I could think to say was, "Scrap."

"Decepticons," Cliff sneers as he shifts from his car form. No longer, a car, he is now much larger, resembling a robot from a sci-fi movie, but I knew him to be much more. He was a Cybertronian, like the rest of our team and our enemies, only our team was on the side deemed the Autobots while our enemies were aptly named Decepticons. I knew from experience exactly how deceptive they can be.

From my position on his hand, I can barely hear Cliff as he speaks to me, with his eyes locked on the massive Decepticon warship overhead. "Run."

"What?" I ask, panic gripping my form as the situation finally kicks in.

He looks at me and practically thrusts me to the ground as he yells "Run!" I know nothing else to do but to obey and rush towards the rocks piled off to the side of the edge of the chasm. Just as I reach them, I can hear the blast of a large canon fire, followed by the sound of rocks clattering and smashing about and metal skidding down along with the rocks. I turn to see my friend, my brother fall, but I am too paralyzed to do anything. Not that I could have done much. I just wish I had done something. The next events have been forever seared into my memory.

Vehicon troopers, the designation of the generic, run-of-the-mill Decepticon soldiers, rain down from the warship as Cliff stands from the blast. "Arcee," he states over the comm link, "About that backup." Without me riding with Cliff, I have no way of hearing the response, so I watch helpless, only being able to pray that the others make it in time.

The troopers had him greatly outnumbered, being at least twenty to his lone one. I don't even attempt to count myself because I knew that I was only hindrance should I make my presence known. "Fair warning boys," Cliffjumper stated to the on looking troopers, "I'll put a few dings in ya." Then he sprung into action.

Transforming into his car mode, he drives right up the rock wall and into the air, just before shifting back and landing right into the middle of the Decepticon troops. Cliff fought valiantly, throwing the Cons in various directions and fighting as skillfully as I would expect him to, but I knew that skill would not be enough in the long run.

_Where are the others? Cliff needs help now!_ I knew the answer. We were all currently scattered, searching for energon deposits. But feeling so helpless and just watching the ensuing fight made the minutes seem to drag on.

Soon, Cliff was down. His horn flew off to the side as he crashed right back down into the hole. He managed to catch his footing, and pronounced to the ensuing enemy, "You want the horns? You got 'em." He then shifted his hands into his blasters and began to jump and dive from the enemies fire as he shot right back at them. Unfortunately, energon is an extremely volatile substance, and with a stray shot from the enemy, the supply currently behind Cliffjumper blew sky high.

I hid from the blast behind the rocks, and peaked my head out just in time to see a pair of troopers dragging Cliff from the explosion. "No," I say, shock taking over any cognitive thought I had. "No, this can't happen. This can't be happening. No…" But it happened. And I just watched as they dragged away my brother. I just watched, numb.

The rest of the team came just as the warship pulled away from view. I could hear the ground bridge opening, but I couldn't bring myself to look as I sat slumped against the rock, face looking at my hands in my lap.

I heard as they landed outside of the portal, and vaguely heard them speaking amongst themselves, something about this being the first Decepticon activity in three years, as they searched the area for me. I was too numb to remember anything said. Eventually, I heard someone speak to me as they reached for me among the rocks, then shout to the others. I finally look up as they nudge me on the shoulder. I look up to see the worried expression of Bulkhead, which only grew more concerned when he took in my shaking form and tearstained face.

"C'mere, kid, easy there," he coaxed. Bulkhead was massive. Though slightly shorter than our leader, he is pure metal muscle, and even though is not the brightest Bot, the army green giant with his all-terrain jeep mode is most certainly one of the sweetest. He scoops me up and turns to the others, only to be descended upon by Ratchet.

"Thank Primus. Are you okay? Any dizziness, pain…"

"I'm fine." My answer is short and without emotion, but given the situation, I guess it was understandable.

Ratchet looks at me for a moment as I remain seated in a slumped form in Bulk's hand and sighs. Ratchet is the team's medic and resident scientist. He is the oldest on the team, with no real weapons made for battle, and a vehicle mode of a red and white ambulance. Though he is often described as gruff and grouchy, he never really means any harm by it. Everyone knows that he favors me compared to the others, mostly because my interest in his scientific endeavors and my training under him as an apprentice medic. Though I am only human in form, he takes my training seriously. After a quick scan of my vitals, he turns to our scout who had been bleeping questions to the medic all during his examination of me.

Our scout, Bumblebee, as opposed to Ratchet is most certainly the youngest on the team. His yellow and black paintjob reflects his name, and his chosen car is a Camaro, one with all the bells and whistles. Though only a Scout, he has proven himself many a time to be a valuable asset to the team. The only difference in him from the others is his way he communicates. His voice box had been damaged in battle back on Cybertron, so now his form of communication is through a system of bleeps. I'm the only human I know of that can understand him.

My gaze then shifts to the significantly smaller form approaching from behind Bumblebee. As I watch Arcee approach, my heart drops into my stomach, and I am at a loss for words. She stands there clutching the only remaining piece of Cliffjumper: his horn which had been broken off during battle. As her gaze shifts to me, I notice how lost and confused her optics seemed as she clutched the horn tighter to her chassis. As I struggle for words and fresh tears flow from my eyes, I manage to choke out, "I'm sorry."

Then, the final member of the team stops behind Arcee. As he kneels and places a comforting had on her shoulder, I once again take in his massive size as compared to the rest of the team. Taller than Bulkhead, he is also at least twice Arcee's height. His red and blue paint job reminds me of his vehicle form, the semi-truck which I had practically spent my entire childhood in. He is our team leader, the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. And as I look him in the eye and see his concern and worry as he watches my disheveled form shake and sob in Bulkhead's hand, I apologize again. This time, to him. "I am so sorry, Daddy."

The sun seemed almost unearthly beautiful that day. The day we said our goodbyes to Cliffjumper. The team stood in front of my father, with me hanging farther back than the rest. As my father spoke, one could not help but notice the wisdom he seemed to carry with his words.

"We must not allow our loss of Cliffjumper to impair our judgment. As of today, only we five Autobots remain on this Earth. We owe it to ourselves, to the memory of Cybertron, to any Autobots in any galaxy seeking safe harbor, to human kind…" and at this point, Arcee began to step forward from the group, still clutching Cliffjumper's horn as she sat it on the ground, "…and we owe it to the memory of our fallen comrade, to survive." After she sits down the horn, Arcee turns to leave in a stoic fashion. "Arcee…"

"If Cliff's gone, standing around and sulking about it isn't going to bring him back. So if any of you mind, I think I will go back to protecting human kind." The bitterness is strong in her last statement. As she continues to walk away, she pauses as she nears me. I'm currently staring intently at Cliff's horn from my position away from the group, as if it might suddenly start glowing or something and turn into our Cliffjumper, not just some remnant of him. "Hey Everon." I cease my staring and look at her, a bit startled. We have yet to talk about the incident, since it was still so fresh in our minds, and though deep down I knew she would never, part of me feared that she might blame me for Cliff's death. "Want to go for a ride?"

Relief floods through me as I quickly bob my head up and down and head towards her as she shifts into her motorcycle form. Soon, we are speeding away through the Nevada desert as the rest of our team watches our retreating forms with worried gazes, fearing how we will cope with our new losses.


	2. Chapter 2

Jasper, Nevada. A small town in the middle of extensive desert terrain. Many people have probably never heard of it. I, on the other hand, call this place my home. It's the town I grew up in, the one where I lived the more human half of my life. And where I met the closest thing I have to a human brother.

Jack Darby and I have known each other since we were toddlers. We went to the same daycare and have been nearly inseparable ever since. My godfather would often drive me to play dates at Jack's house, and I often spent the night there. Sometimes I still do. And before any of you begin to think that there might be even an inkling of anything more sibling feelings between each other, let me just go ahead and snuff those little pipe dreams. The two of us are so far stuck in the sibling bond that I have on occasion introduced each other as brother and sister. Jack included. So there. Deal with it.

Anyway, my ride had been pretty quiet with Arcee, with neither of us being quite ready to talk about what happened. I just let her drive and let myself lose my thoughts to the wind. But as soon as I noticed her pulling into a familiar burger joint, I realized exactly what she was trying to do. "Let me guess: you're dumping me off on Jack for the night, aren't you?"

I can hear her sigh when she stops in the parking spot. "I figured you would need a place to unwind. One that doesn't include a family of the Bot kind. One night away from base will do you good."

With a hesitant response, I ask, "After I… unwind… can we talk? Tomorrow? Please?"

"Of course, Ever. But right now we both need a little time to absorb what's happened." After a pause, she continues, trying to sound a little less bleak. "So, this Jack gets off his shift soon, right?"

"Yeah in five minutes. Scrap, you haven't met him yet, have you?" Seeing as how I only got my license last year, which was already a year in advance from normal teens and took some serious pull from our team's military liaison, who also happens to be my godfather, I hadn't 'driven' most of my family's vehicles into town yet. I mostly rode with Cliffjumper, occasionally Bumblebee. I 'borrowed' the cars while my family is away on assignment. My family's cover is that my dad is part of a covert ops group and is deployed most of the year. I tell everyone that I am close with the rest of his team, and that I consider them to be my family. Jack and anyone else who I talk to enough to explain the situation believe that I live with my godfather.

If only they knew.

"No, I haven't. It's nice to finally see him from something other than photos. I'll wait here until you two leave, then I will leave with Sadie when the coast is clear."

With a smile, I step off Arcee and head over to the bench in front of Jack's oh-so-classy work joint. Note the sarcasm. With a little time to kill, I decide to apply a little of my makeup. Yes, I carry a stash of makeup in my purse. Normally I don't even make it out of the base without some kind of makeup on my face, so my stash is rarely touched except on days when I oversleep.

When we arrived back at base, the first thing I had done was lock myself in the bathroom and cried until I couldn't cry anymore, which was a good half hour, maybe an hour. After that, I washed off my ruined makeup and stayed relatively quiet and out of sight until our makeshift memorial.

Still, my stash consists of only a few neutral toned eye-shadows, mascara, and a bit of lipstick. The application only takes about a minute, and it helps to distract from the dark circles under my eyes as well as the redness from crying. My pallor is a bit paler than usual, and the ivory glint seems almost a bit sickly, but there is nothing I can do about that. As I stow my supplies back in my bag, the door to the building finally opens, and he steps outside.

"So," I state with a drawn out pronunciation. "How's the life of the working class?"

After recovering from a momentary jolt, Jack turns and notices where I'm sitting lounged on the bench, and he begins grinning ear to ear. "Same old. You should try it some time."

I snort. "Like I have time. Besides, I would want to work in a mechanics shop, and every shop in town turns me away as if I have the plague."

After sitting beside me, he responds in a joking manner. "Well why wouldn't big, burly biker men not want a cute, 16 year old girl fixing their bikes for them?"

Eyes narrowed, I dangerously ask, "Did you just say cute? 'Cute' is for bunnies, kittens, little girls with pigtails. You did not just put me on the same level as little girls with pigtails."

Jack laughs at this point. That's when he sees Arcee. With a drawn out whistle, he is up straddling her within a moments notice. I can barely contain my laughter as he begins to talk to her, completely unaware that she can actually understand him. And of how adverse she is to stray humans touching her.

"Hello beautiful…" he drawls. "Where have you been all my life?"

"You do realize it's not polite bike etiquette to touch someone else's bike without permission?" I ask with a smirk.

Ignoring my statement, he snaps his head up and asks, "Is it yours? Please tell me its yours?"

"No, its Arcee's, the girl from my dad's unit. She drove me and plans to grab it later."

Understanding crosses his face. "You spending the night? Wait, if Arcee is here, does that mean the rest of your dad's unit is here? Please tell me I'm finally going to meet the mysterious father of Everon Prime."

My response is a bit hesitant as I measure my response carefully. "I… need to get away for the night. Yes the team's here at the moment, but, well…" With sorrow gripping my core, I look up at Jack. "Cliff is dead. He died out in the field."

Jack was shocked. He knew of how close Cliff and I were. As far as he knew, I had been 'driving' Cliff's car to school and town everyday when I had been in reality riding with Cliff. "Ev, I don't know what to say…" But before he could continue, something horrible happened. The twin vehicons appeared. While Jack was still sitting on Arcee.

As the pair revved their engines, Arcee and I could only think of one thing to say. "Scrap!"

With a quick and graceful swing of my leg, I'm sitting behind Jack yelling, "Hold on!"

"Wait, what…" And then Arcee spun upwards on her back tire in order to spin around. Jack's arms and legs flailed as he gripped her handlebars, and my arms instinctually locked around his waist. This day just got even more complicated.

Arcee then took off towards the oncoming enemy vehicles, making a beeline straight between them as Jack yelled in shock, not sure of what was going on. I always new there would be a chance that I would have to explain everything to him, about my family, my life, but I had always thought that I could at least make it through high school before having to cross that bridge.

Racing down the street with the Cons in hot pursuit, I could hear Arcee speak to Jack and I. "Do not let go!"

"Who said that?!" Mentally I sighed. This is definitely not the best way to introduce my best friend to my family.

"I will explain later."

"Ever…"

"Later, Jack!"

As I shout at him, the Cons pull up on either side of us. "Arcee, brakes!" She slowed for a second, narrowly missing the Cons attempt to smash us from both sides. While they regained their speed from colliding with each other, Arcee sped back down their middle and ahead of their pursuit.

She then sped around a corner and into a nearby alley, skidding to a stop, which both Jack and I took as an immediate cue to get off. As he backed away from her, Jack asked, clearly bewildered, "What are you?"

"Tell anyone I exist," she replied, "And I will hunt you down." She then edged towards him, effectively scaring him off down a side alley.

"Smooth," I state in a clipped tone.

"He is safer away from us."

"I'm not going to have a choice now," I tell her as I take the driver's position. "I'm gonna have to tell him."

"Later." Just then, as we begin to move, the vehicons appear in her rearview in pursuit. One of which continues to follow us down the alley, but the other branches off. Towards Jack. "Scrap!"

"Arcee! We have to help him!" She sighs, but she knows that we have to go back. With a quick U-turn, we drive head on towards our remaining pursuer and effectively jump over him, continuing on towards my best friend.

Once we gain ground on the car pursuing Jack, I can here him shout pleas of his not knowing Arcee to the relentless trooper as he runs away from it. Arcee jumps this car well and pulls along side Jack. "Hop on!" She orders him as I offer my arm, and he swings on behind me. And once again, we took off down the street.

With Jack still screaming at each turn.

Soon our pursuit found its way onto the highway, but to make matters worse, the Cons decided to bring out the big guns. Literally. How we didn't make the news, I still don't understand. You think someone would have caught two cars with built in laser guns shooting at a speeding motorcycle on camera. Our team tends to have a lot of dumb luck sometimes.

"Why are those guys shooting at us?" Jack pleaded to Arcee and myself.

"There's no us, kid," Arcee told him.

"And they're no guys," I finished for her. By this point, we are weaving in and out of traffic, trying in vain to lose our two persistent tails.

Luckily, I soon heard the hum of a familiar engine behind us, followed by the crash of metal against metal. "Here comes the cavalry!" I shout. I watch as Bee flips back around from clipping the two Cons into the guardrails.

"Friend of yours?" Jack nervously asks.

Arcee corrects him by saying, "Family." Speeding down the road, Bee attempts interference, but soon his tail his clipped by one of the Cons and he ends up speeding along behind them. In a last ditch attempt to at least get the Cons away from the majority of the civilians on the road, Arcee jumps the railing into a drainage area below.

Jack screams louder than before, right in my ear, and I begin to wonder if this is how annoyed Ratchet feels when I blare my music over the base's speaker system.

After a successful landing and stop, I step off Arcee as Jack tries to catch his breath. Then, things go from bad to worse when I hear an awed utterance of "Whoa," coming from behind me.

Jack simply looked to the voice and said, "You have no idea," before following my lead and stepping off of Arcee.

"You have to be kidding me!" I shout as I see a young boy, maybe twelve, standing off to the side. "Seriously! Can the universe give me a break! First Cliff, then Jack finds out, now this!? I mean…" My ranting was cut shorts as the sound of engines followed by the reemergence of the twins interrupted me. Things went from bad to worse when the Cons decided to shift. In front of Jack and the kid. I buried my face in my palms, exasperated. "By the all spark, shoot me now…."

Deciding that the secret is already way out of the bag, Arcee shifted from her vehicle to bipedal form. "This ends here Cons!" Immediately, I grab both Jack and the kid and drag them off to the side, away from the impending fight. Then, with her usual grace and fluidity, she charged her opponents all while dodging their oncoming blasts.

"What are they?" the young boy asked, amazed by the sight before him.

Jack seemed at a loss for words. "Talking cars that turn into robots. Or the other way around." His sentence was cut off by Arcee's grunt as she kicked one of the Cons square in the jaw. The three of us just watched the fight, none of us really sure what to do. As Arcee began punching the Con in the face, she uttered, "This…is…for…Cliff!" After that, she cartwheeled backwards in order to avoid their blaster shots, but unfortunately was hit by a shot right in the chest, sending her flying backwards.

Finally, Bee managed to catch up to the fight, landing in his bipedal form on one Con, and punching the other to the ground in the process. As he stepped off the Con he landed on, an unfamiliar crunching sound could be heard. That crunching sound happened to be what used to be the young boys toy car, and I assumed from the look of what was left that it was a yellow Camaro, like Bumblebee.

Bumblebee bleeped an apology to the young boy, who casually responded, "No problem, really." Bee couldn't say anything else because he was cut off by a blaster shot to the chest. He flew through the air, landing rather ungracefully and face first to the ground, only to have a Con step on his head like the way Bumblebee had stepped on his head.

As Bumblebee flipped over, he was met with two blasters in the face. But before the guns could charge the fire, a voice to my left interrupted them. "Leave him alone!" Now, the young boy had successfully diverted the attention of the three battling robots to himself. Unfortunately, that included the blasters.

"Please?" the boy asked nervously.

"Bad call," Jack stated as he crouched beside me.

Had I not been standing right beside them, the Cons would have blasted them right then and there. Instead, they looked at each other, and one Con proceeded to make his way towards us, each step of his shaking the ground.

"Come on!" I yell, guiding the two away from the Con. I knew why they didn't shoot us. They wanted me alive. But I have no plans of letting them catch me. Or the other two humans I was currently guiding. As we ran, I noticed a large, open-ended concrete pipe. "In there!" I ordered gesturing towards it.

I entered once I had gotten the other two in, and we ran, I could sense the Con reaching for me, only to be pulled away. I look back towards the entrance of the pipe with the other two glancing in that direction as well. With nothing in sight, all we could hear was what sounded like metal pounding against metal, and soon we could see Bumblebee's head look into the entrance.

**Are you all okay?** He bleeped to us. Well, mainly me.

"We're fine Bee. I'll help these two home: you guys finish up here."

"Thank you," the young boy told him.

**You're welcome!** And with that, Bee returned to the ongoing fight.

"Come on," I state as I guide the two further down the tunnel. "We need to go: now."

"What did we just see?" the boy asked.

"I have no idea," Jack told him quickly, turning him away from the battle, "And I'm not sure if I want to find out."

Jack looked at me, obviously unsure of how involved he wanted to be in this. And the more answers he got, the more involved he would be. "Look, tomorrow. I will tell you both tomorrow. Please? Right after school I will explain everything. That is, if you want to know anything." Jack hesitated, but finally he nodded along with the boy. And then we moved on.

* * *

To say that things between Jack and I were tense that night would be an understatement. After taking the boy home, who learned to be named Rafael Esquival, we all agreed to meet up after school and then the two would decide if they wanted further explanation or not. Apparently Raf was some kind of 12-year-old genius and currently a freshman at our high school. Go figure.

Once Jack and I got to his house, we almost immediately went to bed, too mentally drained to even eat, much less talk. Unfortunately, my nerves were shot from what had happened in the last twelve hours, so I barely slept a wink.

Jack's mom got in late, so she slept while we went to school. Luckily for me, I spend a lot of time at the Darby's, so I had some spare clothes that I kept here. School was dull that day. Most of the stuff that the school teaches, I already know. The only reason I go is because of my craving for normalcy and to hang out with Jack. Today, though, Jack avoided me and with temperament flaring from lack of sleep, I earned myself a detention.

One of the main reasons I hate detention: they expect me to do homework. Unfortunately, I tend to finish my homework faster than others. As in, I'm about three weeks ahead on my homework right now, with nothing left to do. Also, drawing and sketching is not allowed in detention. So I spend the majority of the time arguing with the teacher over how I in all honesty have nothing to do.

Once I am finally free, I realize that the time has come for me to explain myself to Jack and Raf. And then, to explain to my dad why I threw a pencil at my teacher's head, which had effectively landed me in detention.

Being chased by a Con was actually sounding fun right about now.

As I left the building, panic begins to creep its way up my spine. What if Jack didn't stay? What if he didn't want to know about my family? I would be fine if Raf didn't stay, but Jack… The idea of him rejecting my family before I can fully explain to him scared me.

I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or not when I saw him standing just inside the school's front exit. I speed up to him, about to say something, but all I could choke out was, "Detention."

"So I heard. Word tends to travel fast when you beam a teacher in the forehead with a pencil for questioning how quickly you finished his pop quiz."

"He is lucky it was just the pencil. That Miko girl suggested the pencil sharpener." A small smile graced his lips, and I was relieved for the brief break in tension. As we headed out the door, we passed said Miko on the wall of the steps, intently drawing something and unaware of our presence.

As I look off to the right, I notice Raf eagerly waving to us from under a tree. "Time to get this over with…" I mumble and then walk towards the boy while Jack follows in tow. Raf smiles as I approach, and I return the best semi-smile I can manage at the time. "Hey, kid. Sorry, I had…"

"Detention. Pencil to the forehead. Everyone says you have great aim by the way."

"Primus, word does travel fast."

Jack looked at me, puzzled. "What's a Primus?" I open my mouth to answer, but he waves me off. "Never mind. Look, Raf, right? I don't think we should have Ever tell us anything."

"Wait, what?" I ask, completely confused by this response.

"Ev, you're obviously extremely nervous about telling us anything, and I don't want to twist your arm into making you tell us something that is obviously personal to you. Right, Raf?"

This earned a sigh from the previously eager young boy. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's your secret Ever. We don't need the details."

I bit my lip. Here was my chance to avoid having to tell them anything. To avoid the explanations. Everything could go back to normal… but things were never going to be normal again. This was something I had to accept. "No. Thanks Jack, but I have to tell you. I was going to eventually, so I guess its best to get it over with. Besides, you deserve to know what's going on. Both of you…" I taper off as the two boys look off at the sound of honking. As I turn around, I immediately recognize the source of the sound. Sighing, I say, "I guess some other people have the same idea…"

Bumblebee pulls up just as Raf grabs both of our arms, excitement written all over the young boys face. "Oh not again…" Jack states, obviously still nervous about the vehicles.

**I can drive the boy, Ev**, Bumblebee bleeps as he opens his upward swinging door for Raf.

"It wants us to get in," Jack says.

"No," Raf replies matter of factly, with a smile playing on his face. "Just me."

"How do you know?" I ask Raf as I quirk my eyebrow and a smirk grows on my face.

"It said so," Raf tells me, as if understanding Bee's bleeps is the most common of things to know. I can't help but let the smirk on my face grow into a wide grin. This could get interesting.

"Wait what?" Jack asks, clearly confused.

"Yours is over there," Raf tells us as he gestures to Arcee who we had both completely overlooked from her spot in front of the school. Jack begins to protest, but with a simple, "How's it going?" Raf is already sitting in Bumblebee's passenger seat, and before Jack can protest any further, Bee closes his door and takes off. Jack looks at me, slack jawed, clearly wondering how I can condone what the government would probably see as the kidnapping of a child. I merely shrug. It's not like I have any control over what my family does anyway.

My gaze turns to Arcee, who had turned her bike frame slightly towards us. I could practically sense her frustration at not only having to drive us. But also waiting for us. Namely Jack. Like I said before, she doesn't like stray humans touching her.

When I turn to Jack, I can see him swiftly walking down the road, away from Arcee and myself. "Jack, c'mon! At least wait for me!" I sprint after him as he turns down an alley, and just as I reach him, Arcee turns into the alley and cuts him off.

"Relax," she tells him. "I just want to talk to you."

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?"

"Jack," I say cautiously. "There's a lot you don't understand." As I tell him this, Arcee powers down her holoform, Sadie, which only makes Jack more nervous.

"No, no. I get it! First rule about robot fight club is you don't talk about robot fight club!" As he is talking to her, Arcee keeps edging closer, which makes Jack only want to back up farther. "What you need to understand," Jack tells her as he turns around and she and I follow, "…is that I don't want a bunch of crazy talking vehicles following me around trying to get me killed!" By this point, Arcee has shifted into her bipedal form, and I am too frustrated to even protest. Jack was being extremely unreasonable in my opinion at this moment.

Albeit, he was probably questioning his sanity, but I still feel he was being unreasonable.

"Look," Arcee tells him. "Jack, is it? Your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence."

"Wait Optimus who? As in Everon's dad?"

"You may be in danger, Jack," I plead to him, "Because you are one of the few, one of the only who have ever seen us." As I look in his eyes while I plead to him, I can see his resistance caving. But my relief is short lived.

"Dude, what are you waiting for?" A voice, which I notice to belong to the Miko girl from my math class who had suggested throwing a pencil sharpener at the teacher. "Go with!"

"Scrap."

Soon, we are racing down the road behind Bumblebee who carried Raf and Miko, the later of which was sticking her head out of the sunroof and yelling with delight.

"Why exactly are we taking her?" Jack asks Arcee.

"Rules."

* * *

Base. The Autobots home. And mine. I grew up here. Spent most of my life here, spare a few years. It was the one place I didn't have to hide or lie about who I was. I am the daughter of a Prime, a member of this strange family.

As the three humans entered the base, I knew that everything about me would eventually be brought to light. I just hoped they could handle it all.

Entering the base, they seemed to panic at first. Bee and Arcee appeared to have missed their turn, heading straight for a rock wall. But in the last second, the doors in the rock wall opened and the two Bots continued inside without ever faltering in their speed.

Once we were inside was when they were truly amazed. The excitement was most evident on Raf and Miko's eager faces as they first took in the sights that our base had to offer.

First was Ratchet. He stood at his usual computer station turning to watch as our small procession entered the base.

Next was Bulkhead as he approached us, who had to come to a stop in the center of the open space in front of the ground bridge.

As we exited our respective vehicles, Ratchet moved to stand beside Bulk. "I thought there were two."

Arcee shifted and sarcastically responded, "Haven't you heard? Humans multiply."

"I'm Raf," the young boy standing next to me offered to the group.

Then the overly excited last minute addition to our growing collection of humans announced "And I'm Miko," before excitedly zipping towards Bulkhead. "Who are you?"

The nervous giant offered an almost unsure response. "Bulkhead…"

"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck! A monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever you a wrecking ball as a punching bag?" By the look on Bulk's face, I knew that he was completely and utterly lost at what to say. I caught his eye and mouthed a sorry in his direction. It didn't help the apprehensive look his face though. Not that I could blame him at the moment.

Raf decided to inject at this moment. "So, if you guys are robots, who made you?"

"Puh lease," Ratchet scoffed to the young boy. Before he could continue, the sounds of heavy steps could be heard coming from behind us. I turned casually around as the others jumped and watched the approach of the final member of our team.

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron," My father explains. He then kneels and offers his hand to me, which I immediately climb onto as he then proceeds to lift me to his shoulder.

As he lifts me up, I add, "They're also known as Autobots."

Jack steps forward and asks, "Why are you here?"

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons," my dad patiently explains as I sit down and cross my legs from my perch on his shoulder.

Arcee then pipes in with, "The jokers who tried to bump us off last night."

Jack presses further by asking, "Okay, why are they here?"

My father kneels back down to the others level in order to speak to them more efficiently. "A fair question Jack. In part because our planet is uninhabitable. Ravaged by centuries of civil war."

Raf interjects at this point. "Why were you fighting a war?"

"Foremost, over our world's supply of energon, the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one who I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted, and it was thus that Megatron had lost his way."

I was so enthralled in my father's story, one which I knew by heart and in much greater detail, that when Miko sighed and interjected, "Is their gonna be a quiz?" into the story that I actually fell of my dad's shoulder. I sent her a quick glare as she mumbled a sorry to me. At least it was only about ten feet since Daddy was crouched down.

Jack looked at me, realized I was fine, and continued with his questioning of my father. "So what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?"

"Sure," I mumble to myself, still sprawled on the ground from the fall. "No one check on the girl who just feel ten feet onto hard concrete. I'm sure she will be just fine…"

My dad had decency to pause in his explanation to scoop me up and set me on my feet before answering. "Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time…"

"Three years…" I mumble which causes my dad to send a quick worried glance in my direction before continuing.

"…But if his return is eminent, as I fear, it would be catastrophic."

Who knew how right he would be.


	3. Chapter 3

To think that in a mere two days time, my life could change so drastically. I lost Cliffjumper, one of the Autobots that I was closest to, and, though I didn't know it at the time, I had gained two new friends as well as opening the door to becoming closer to Jack, a friend I call my brother, then ever before. Of course, our closeness does not come without struggles, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Where were we?

"And since you now know of our existence," Optimus explained, "I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons now know of yours."

"Got it," jack replies. "Spot any strange vehicles, call 911. Can we go now?"

I sigh. Jack was still not taking this well. Even in a controlled environment, he was still nervous. I thought by now he would be over it.

"Are you insane?" Miko asks him. "I'm living a dream here in Botswana, and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it."

My dad decided to cut in. "It is best that you three remain under our watch, until we can determine our enemies intentions."

"Optimus," Ratchet interjects. "With all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere else."

"Children?" Jack asks. "Miko and I are at least the same age as Ev!"

"At least your not called a sparkling," I mutter.

"They have no protective shell," Ratchet continues, "If they get under foot, they will go… squish." He stomped his foot in our direction to make a point.

"Then for the time being Ratchet, we must watch where we step. Have we not already been doing that since Everon was a child?"

"Whoa, hold up," Jack announces out of nowhere. "You are Optimus Prime? As in the mysterious father Ever has never been able to introduce me to because he was always off on some covert ops assignment? Can someone please explain to me how she managed to get adopted by you?"

Bulkhead jumps into the conversation. "Who said Ev was adopted?"

"I mean, of course she is… she can't… how…" Jack turns to look at me. "It's impossible."

"Jack…" I start.

"Tell me this is a dream. That I'm imagining all of this. There is no way my best friend who is practically my sister can be some alien robot."

"I'm not Cybertronian…" He starts to relax, but the tension comes right back when I finish my sentence. "I'm… well I'm half human, half Cybertronian. My dad is Optimus, but my mother was human."

Jack stared at me in disbelief, but suddenly a look of what almost appeared to be understanding crossed his face. "Your eyes, the silver, I always knew there was something unnatural about them. The way they flash when you're angry, sad, happy… I somehow always knew they were unearthly."

"Hold up!" Miko yells, looking between my dad and myself. "How does that," gesturing to my dad while making eye contact with the rest of the team and me, "knock up a human? I mean, wouldn't he squish her?"

"Miko!" Jack and Raf yell simultaneously. I on the other hand want to go crawl in a hole rather than picturing my dad attempting to 'knock up' a human.

"It's not like that. Rather… ugh! Let me just start from the beginning." I look to my dad for support, and he offers a small smile of encouragement for me to continue. "Okay, first of all, there is no 'knocking up' as you are referring to in this story. You can ask questions when I am done, Miko.

"Alright, since you already know who my father is, I will tell you what I know about my mother. She was a female member of the US Army, and at the time of meeting my dad, working as liaison at highly classified levels. Both her and her partner, Agent William Fowler, were assigned to be the go betweens for the Autobots and the US Government."

"In short," Arcee cut in, "they were our babysitters to make sure we didn't flatten a town or something."

"Anyway, This was back when Decepticon activity was higher, and the Autobots were constantly intersecting the Decepticons at the mines and other places. My mom, being extremely dedicated, or as some have said stubborn, often snuck along on these missions. One mission… ended badly. She and Optimus were stuck in a cave in, and she was badly wounded in the process.

"In order to try and save her life, my dad tried to use a Cybertronian method to keep her alive until help could be reached. A spark shock. Basically, my dad took a some sliver of his own spark to try and prolong her survival."

"Pause!" Miko yelled, earning a few glares. "What's a spark?"

"A spark," my dad explains, "Is similar to a human heart in that it helps to pump energon throughout our body. The difference, though, is that a spark is more like a solid form of energy that every Cybertronian carries within them."

"Does Ever have a spark?" Miko continues.

"Yes. It is the main Cybertronian aspect of her biology. And the reason she is not permitted to see regular doctors."

Ratchet snorts. "As if I would ever allow her to go near one of those primitive quacks you humans call doctors."

"Can we get back to the story? I have kind of been waiting most of my life for her to explain things, and I would rather that she finish."

I clear my throat, and begin again. "Okay, so my dad has just performed a spark shock, and, in a way, it works. But not as how everyone expects. On Cybertron, children are created through the combining of two shards from separate Cybertronians, and the sparkling is then carried to term by one of the two or a third party.

"When my dad tried the spark shock, he inadvertently created me. Everyone was shocked and unsure of how it happened. The government outright refused to accept our story, and though they go along with it now, still officially have not agreed with it. As for my mother…"

"She was ecstatic," Arcee finished for me.

"She absolutely loved the idea of having a kid," Bulk continued.

And with a small smile, Ratchet added, "Especially when she found out that she was pregnant with a girl."

"We were all overjoyed at the idea of you joining our family," Optimus said to me, a smile forming on his face that showed the love I knew he felt for me, even though I was not a child he planned on having.

I looked down at my hands, unable to think of a response to sudden attention I had earned. "She sounds amazing," Raf responded. Then he looks at me and asks, "When can we meet her?"

The entire room was silent. All the Bots looked nervously between themselves and me, wondering how to say it. Jack included. "She passed away soon after giving birth to me." My voice is measured and controlled, but it breaks a little towards the end of the statement. "Since the government wouldn't officially accept me as her child, I inherited nothing of hers. Everything went to her family. All the mementos of her… except this." At this point, I grip the dog tags around my neck gingerly between my fingers and hold them up to my eyes. "Fowler, my god father, managed to snag these from her stuff before it was all given to her family. It's not much," I say while letting the tags settle back around my neck, "But it's enough."

The room is dead silent for a short time, until Miko breaks the silence, but in a more cautious way then we had previously seen from her. "What did she look like?"

"In all honesty," Arcee states, "She looked a lot like Everon. Same dark brown hair, curves, and facial structure. The only difference was her tanned skin to Everon's ivory, and her bright blue eyes to Everon's silvery gray."

Jack adds another question. "Everon is a Cybertronian name isn't it?"

Optimus smiles. "Yes. Everon's mother asked for me to choose a Cybertronian for our daughter. She felt that if our girl must live on a human planet, then she should always be able to carry a piece of her Cybertronian heritage with her."

Just then, an alarm goes off as green lights flash overhead, and Optimus and Ratchet turn away from the conversation towards the screens behind them.

"What's that?" Jack asks worriedly. Bumblebee tries to respond, but his bleeps are lost on Jack and Miko.

Seeing their confusion, Raf explains. "Proximity sensors. Someone's up top."

As Ratchet pulls up our base's video surveillance, he announces, "It's Agent Fowler."

"Ev's god father? I know him!" Jack states.

"But you aren't supposed to know about this," I say, gesturing to the base around us. "And Fowler normally only pops in unannounced when there are… issues. Meaning he is not gonna be in a good mood. Seeing you three is gonna put him through the roof."

"It may be best if you do not meet him at this time," Optimus finishes for me. As they run off to hide, Daddy scoops me up and plops me down onto his shoulder. "Try not to fall this time, Sweetspark."

"Not my fault!" He chuckles at the pouting expression on my face, then turns to the descending elevator to greet our 'guest.'

As soon as the elevator opens, Fowler is already lecturing my dad. "Seven wrecks, thirty-four fender benders, a three hour traffic jam, and on a particular note, numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make and a black and yellow custom muscle car. So anything you care to get off your tin chest, Prime?"

"Well, someone didn't get his coffee this morning," I snap back at my godfather from my perch on Optimus' shoulder. "Oh, and its lovely to see you too!"

The two ignore my retorts, and Optimus reports, "We have everything under control, Agent Fowler."

"They're back, aren't they?"

"If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable. Among other things." Optimus tilted his face to me and stroked a finger across my hair.

"Then maybe its time to wake up the Pentagon."

"Hear me, Agent Fowler. We are your best, if not possibly your only defense against the Decepticon threat."

"Says you."

"Hey, Fleshy," Bulkhead pipes in. "Did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows when to use force," he grabs a claw off of Ratchet's workstation, "And how much to use." He then proceeds to squeeze the claw until it shatters into multiple pieces.

"Bulkhead!" Ratchets yells, "I needed that!' As Ratchet looks ready to strangle the Bot, Bulk only confusedly looks at the broken machine in his hand, probably with no idea that it had ever been of importance. I place my face in my palm and merely shake my head. Well, at least I knew what Ratchet and I would build next.

"Enough!" Optimus announces to the pair. Turning to Fowler, he continues, "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Fowler. I, however, cannot."

"Then do us both a favor and handle this Prime, under the radar," And as he enters the elevator, he leaves one final parting warning, "Or I will."

Bulk chooses the moment Fowler leaves in to speak up. "Pretty big bearings, for a human."

"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world, Bulkhead," Optimus explains. "As he should be."

"But seriously, Ev," Miko piped in as she and the others come out from their 'hiding' spot behind one of the multi-tiered platforms, "Having an alien robot for a dad, one that leads an awesome line up of Bots in some interplanetary war, is way cooler than hitting Mr. Pastelli in the head with a pencil sharpener!"

"She did what?!" yelled each of the Bots, even Bumblebee as he bleeped his response.

"It was a pencil! Not the pencil sharpener!" Jack said in my defense.

"Yeah," Raf agreed. "She only _threatened_ to hit him with the pencil sharpener." Soon every Bots' eyes were locked on me, expecting an answer.

"Thanks guys," I mumble sarcastically as my dad lifts me carefully from my spot on his shoulder and stands me in the spot where Fowler previously stood.

"Care to explain yourself?" he then asks me.

I snort, a very unladylike habit that I am beginning to see a trend of, and snap, "Well, its not like I have had the best of luck these past two days! That combined with the fact that I couldn't sleep has put me a little on edge!" Anyone who knows me knows my tendency run off of strong emotions. When I'm happy, I'm ecstatic. When I'm sad, I'm completely despondent. But when I'm angry… well the Bots usually try to avoid me when I'm angry. I have had some very epic temper tantrums over the years. Especially since my return.

"Blasted Earth tech!" Ratchet's complaints at his computer station broke my attention from what probably would have been yet another very heated debate with my father. Debates that had become increasingly frequent in the past few months. Turning to us, he states, "Cliffjumper's signal just popped back online."

I honestly could have fainted from hearing him say that.

From her spot with Jack and Raf on the platform next to Ratchet, Miko asks, "Who's Cliffjumper?"

"How is that possible?" my father inquires of Ratchet, his anger with me immediately forgotten.

"It isn't," Ratchet replies. "Another bug. The system is full of them."

Arcee cuts in at this point, slightly pleading to Optimus. "If there's any chance Cliff's alive…"

"Ratchet," my dad orders, "Prepare sick bay. We may need it…"

"Hey!" Miko yells to Optimus. "What can we do?"

"Remain with Ratchet." His response earns a groan from both the young girl and our resident medic. As the ground bridge opened, I moved to follow the team when my dad stopped me. "Everon, remain here with Ratchet and the humans."

"What, no! I have to go with you."

"My daughter, I cannot allow this. I fear that the location will be heavily guarded by the Decepticons, and I will not risk you being injured or captured again." I look away, upset and slightly angry with the finality of his decision. But I knew that he was right.

Sighing, I nod my head, and then offer a weak smile. "Kick some Con tailpipe for me, alright?"

Optimus returned the smile, "Of course." Then, turning back towards the portal, he announced, "Autobots, roll out!" And with that, he, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead shifted to their vehicle forms and drove into the open portal in front of them. And once again, I felt helpless.

"What, just happened?" Jack stuttered as he watched the Bots disappear.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the ground bridge," Ratchet replied casually.

"What's a ground bridge?" Raf asked.

Ratchet seemed to be getting frustrated from explaining what he saw as common knowledge to them, so I spoke up as I approached the trio's platform. "It's a scaled down version of space bridge technology."

"Since we don't currently possess the means or the energon," Ratchet continued, "for intergalactic travel."

"So," Jack surmised, "you're stuck here. On Earth."

"With the likes of you, yes. But I constructed the ground bridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet."

"Whoa," Raf said, clearly in awe over the capabilities of the tech before him. "Does it work for humans?"

"Naturally," I respond with a slight smile over his excitement.

"You mean I could just, shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko asked.

"Within moments," Ratchet responds. "In fact, allow me to send you there immediately, all three of you."

"Watch it, Ratchet," I say. Turning to the others, I tell them, "He may act like a grump, but trust me, he enjoys the attention. He loves to tell me all about his scientific endeavors and how his tech and inventions work."

Ratchet then scoffs at me. "Ever, you tend to overlook how dissimilar you are from the average human. Yes, I enjoy talking to you, but you have the capabilities and capacity within your mind to comprehend complex Cybertronian math and science. The scans of your mind show that yours is of a higher function than most Cybertronians, let alone humans. And you're my apprentice, not them."

"Huh?" Miko asked, clearly confused by Ratchet's rant.

Jack cut in. "I knew Ever was smart, but not that smart."

"She is already at a level above most highly educated humans," Ratchet continued.

Miko spoke up, "So why does she even bother going to school."

With a scoff, he continues. "Because _someone_ wants the _experience_ of being human and doesn't want to leave that one," pointing to Jack, "again."

"Again?" Raf asked. I froze as their eyes dart towards me. Ratchet suddenly became a bit hesitant, knowing that he had said too much.

Jack interjected. "You mean when Ever moved back when we were seven? I mean, why did you all move anyway? You obviously weren't transferred and then transferred back here when she was twelve." Ratchet and I exchanged nervous glances before he announced that he had work to do and turned away. The sudden change in behavior did not go unnoticed by the others. "Ev, what really happened?"

"Nothing. I just took some time off of school. Simple as that." With that, I turned to head towards the sick bay. "I can get the sick bay prepped, Ratchet. As for the rest of you, feel free to explore this area, just stay in sight and be careful." I know I wasn't being fair, but I wasn't ready to tell that yet. I would, eventually, but not now.

I was still working up the nerve to give the details to the Bots though, and I had had over three years by this point.

Miko merely shrugs as Jack and Raf watch my retreating form, and she drags the two down to the main floor in order to explore the base more thoroughly. "What does this do?" she asks as approaches a nearby power conduit.

"Don't touch that," Ratchet tells her as he walks past her towards his computer. "Don't touch that either," he adds as she reaches for something else. He didn't even turn around to look at her.

"Is there anything we can touch?" Jack asks sarcastically. Ratchet turns and merely looks at Jack, but immediately turns back to his computer screen when a human system error pops on screen.

"How come you guys are using human computers?" Raf inquires.

"Don't get him started!" I shout from the med bay.

"It certainly isn't by choice," Ratchet explains. "It was handed down from the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit." Immediately, the screen is covered with multiple human system error pop ups like the previous one. "And _someone_ was supposed to help me clear out these human system bugs weeks ago!"

"Hey!" I shout as I head back towards the group from the now prepped med bay. "It's not _my_ fault that someone has been loading me down with Cybertronian studies lately. Your homework is way worse than anything school could give me."

"I… think I can fix that," Raf cautiously announces to the frustrated Ratchet.

"Really?" Ratchet asks sarcastically. "You know this is complex technology don't you? I mean it isn't a child's toy." All while Ratchet spoke, Raf was typing on his laptop with a wireless link interface plugged into the side.

"Now try." Ratchet turns from the young boy just in time to see all the system errors disappear from the screen and the normal functions pop back online.

"Nice," I say, crossing my arms over my chest and popping a hip to the side as I smirk approvingly to the young boy. "You could definitely be helpful with the computer tech. Ratchet and I tend to work better with the Cybertronian aspects of our integrated systems. Though I have a bit of a better handle of the human systems than him." Ratchet scoffs at my claim. "Hey, virtually everything I know, I learned from you or Knock Out. Mostly from you, though. Knock Out isn't nearly as good of a mentor."

Ratchet doesn't respond, but as he turns back to the screen, I can see a smile playing on his lips, so I know that he is happy with my response.

"Whose Knock Out?" Miko asks.

Ratchet and I respond a bit too quickly when we both blurt out, "No one!" The three are obviously confused. With a sigh, I said, "I'll explain another day, okay? You guys have learned enough for the day." Though they seem apprehensive, they accept the answer well enough. But I know that they will hold me to it to explain later.

"Ratchet!"

"Whoa where is that coming from!" Miko yells.

"The comm unit. It's Dad!" I respond.

"Bridge us back," he continues. Ratchet is already at the computer and punching away at the keys. "Use the original coordinates, now!"

As I watch the ground bridge begin to glow, I'm hoping deep down that Cliff would be with them. But somehow, I know that he won't. But still, I hope that I'm wrong.

As the team sped into the base, I could see a blue cloud of smoke approaching them from behind. Just as my dad, who was driving on the rear end of the group, reached the main floor of the base, he transformed into his bipedal form and skidded to a stop in a crouched position. I can hear the three utter in amazement as they watched my dad's flashy entrance, followed by Ratchet's comment. "Cutting it a bit close aren't we?" As I survey the freshly arrived group, though, my fears were confirmed.

Cliffjumper wasn't with them.

"And Cliffjumper?" I ask, just to be certain. My answer was the slump of shoulders shared by the entire group. I merely grip the railing of the platform I'm standing on tighter and look towards my feet, unable to respond any further.

Miko though had plenty of questions. "What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with next time?"

Arcee seemed ready to snap at the girl. "Look!..."

"Hey, hey, Miko!" Jack interceded. "Let's… go… see what the Bots hide in their sock drawers."

"Seriously?" she responded incredulously.

With the humans distracting themselves, the Bots set about discussing what happened. "Arcee," my dad inquired. "What did you see?"

"Not Cliff. At least, not anymore. He was mutated, butchered, like something from the Con experiments during the war…" I felt like puking by this point, just imagining what Cliff might have looked like, but I didn't have time to worry myself about that. Arcee was passing out, but not like she was fainting. Something was wrong with her.

She caught herself on a nearby storage container, and Bee started moving towards her as I jumped from the platform into a rolling crouch on the floor and sprint to her. **Are you okay?**

"I'm fine," she states, obviously trying to wave us off. "Just… dizzy." I stood resolute beside her, searching for any signs of energon leaks that she doesn't know about or thinks are too insignificant to worry about. I can hear the trio talking amongst themselves on the platform, but their voices are a bit hushed, and I was too intent in looking for any injuries along Arcee's form to hear what they were saying.

As Ratchet approaches to scan her, she sits on the box, and I pull myself up to sit beside her. Unfortunately for me, I do not notice the purple substance on her hand, the substance that I was within in extremely close proximity with. But, almost immediately, dizziness causes me to stumble on the box.

At first, the others were intently watching Arcee as Ratchet began his scan, so they must have thought that I was merely catching my balance. That is, until I mumble, "I don't feel too good…" and begin to fall off the box towards the ground.

"Everon!" I hear Jack yell as Ratchet catches me in mid air.

"Everon," Ratchet states, "What's wrong?" But I can't think straight enough to respond. My head is spinning. "Someone hold her while I finish Arcee's scan, and I will scan her next." I felt Ratchet carefully sit me in someone else's hands, and as I look up, I see a very concerned Bumblebee holding me while my dad's gaze darts between Arcee and me.

"Whoa," I mange to say. "Major head rush." I wince from the motion as I turn to see Ratchet finishing Arcee's scan.

"What is this?" Ratchet gravely asks when his scanners turn red over a purplish substance on Arcee's hand.

"Don't know," she responds. "Cliff was covered in it. Leaking it…"

Ratchet grabs a scalpel and takes a sample of the substance off of her hand. "Go take a decontamination bath. Now." Bee then hands me to Optimus before helping Arcee to walk. "Given Everon's smaller size and more susceptible human biology, it is safe to assume that her close proximity with this is what made her dizzy."

"I'm fine now," I chime in from my seated position on Optimus' hand. As I move to stand though, my head begins to hurt again, and my knees buckle as I grab my head. "If only the room would stop spinning…" I mumble.

"I will scan you as soon as I safely stow this sample."

"Hey, Optimus?" Jack chimes in. "Hate to be a bother, but no cell service."

"A security precaution," my dad explains while I sprawl out on my back in his hand, waiting for the headache to finish receding. "The silo walls block all radio waves."

"Well, if I don't call my mom, like, now, I'm pretty sure the cops will be out looking for me."

"Have you broken a law?"

"Dad," I say gaining his attention. "Curfew. His mom is really strict about it. Most human parents are. Kids don't tend to travel around in armed robot alien soldiers who double as vehicles. So they have curfews to meet for 'safety.'"

"I better get home too," Raf pipes in. "Or I will be grounded for a year."

"Earth customs. I hadn't considered. But the issue of your safety remains." Turning to the others, he says, "Bulkhead, accompany Miko home."

"Awesome!" Miko yells. "My host parents are gonna freak!"

"…And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form."

"Curbside duty. Got it," Bulk responds, earning a dis appointed 'aww' from Miko.

"Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf," which earned a small smile from the young boy next to me. "Ratchet…"

"Busy!"

"Arcee, you'll accompany Jack."

"Phew," she exaggerates, "Still dizzy…"

"You're fine says your medic," Ratchet tells her without turning from his station.

Arcee sighs, but doesn't say anything else.

Later, after the three humans had left with their respective guardians, and Ratchet finished his scan of me, I lie on pallet I made out on one of the empty platforms. Though the main reason I was out here was that Ratchet wanted to make sure I wouldn't have any residual reactions from being near the strange substance, I secretly was relieved.

It gave me an excuse to be near my daddy without having to let him know how upset I really was.

As I lay there, pretending to sleep, I hear Ratchet begin to speak.

"She's had a hard few days. Hopefully she sleeps better tonight then she did yesterday." A sigh from my dad. "She will be fine. She's resilient."

"And very innocent to the nature of this war."

"We did our best to keep her away from the stress and the violence. The team agreed to do everything in our power to help her keep her innocence. To have as normal of a human life as possible, but to still know as much as we could teach her of her heritage excluding the war."

"I believe that after what happened to Cliffjumper, her innocence has been cracked. This war will change her. There is nothing we can do about that. I just hope that it won't lead her away from us."

"We are her family. And though it seems that they also care for her, I believe in my spark that she could never truly turn her back on the Autobots. She not only has your wisdom, but your pure heart as well."

"But she has his emotional instability. His fiery temperament that is impossible to predict let alone tame. And though we love her for her spirit, I fear that it could potentially destroy her."

"Has she told you anything about her time with them?"

With another heavy sigh, my dad responds, "No, nothing. Besides the occasional slip during a conversation, she never even seems to want to mention her time away."

"Primus, it's been three years, Optimus! She should have adjusted enough to tell us something."

"I know, old friend, but I fear that if we pressure her for information, she would merely turn more in on herself. Some wounds take time to heal. I only hope that we can keep the children from pressuring her too much about it should they become wise to her past and full heritage."

"I'm afraid her and I each had a slip in front of the children today. One with me eluding to her being separated from us, which her friend Jack could sense had a larger story behind it than what we were telling them, and she mentioned Knock Out and then refused to tell the children who he was."

"Did they press for information?"

"Not much. They seemed to be able to tell that she was not quite in the mood or spirits to delve into it." They are both silent for a bit, not making a sound before Ratchet continues. "I should get back to analyzing that sample. I take it you plan on watching her for the time being?" A pause, which I assumed was my dad nodding. "Then you can alert me should her condition change. Though, honestly, I don't expect any other reactions."

"But I will still watch for any changes. Thank you."

"Just doing my job." After another pause, he continues. "She is our hope, Optimus. For both sides. I have a feeling that she will play a significant roll in this war."

"I just hope that this war does not destroy her in the process."

And with those final words, I couldn't hold it off any longer. I let sleep finally claim me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! I decided to add a little author's note in this chapter. I know my story has been pretty close to the series so far, but please be patient! I intend to make quite a few changes as my story progresses. I just happen to like some of the elements from the series and I want to give them my own twist.**

**Oh and I haven't been remembering to add this in previous chapters, but I do not own Transformers Prime! I would love too, but oh well. I do, however, lay claim to my character, Everon. **

**So please, I hate to ask but review! I love to work off critiques, and though I pretty much have my storyline down, I might take some small ideas too if you want to give any.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

To say my night was restless would be an understatement. Though I did sleep, which was better than the previous night, my dreams had a morbid twist to them.

I kept replaying what happened with Cliff over and over again. It was so vivid I could have sworn it was real. But these dreams had one flaw. After they take him, I race after Cliff, somehow ending up in what I think is a cave. Blue crystals of energon can be seen glittering in the walls all around me, and up ahead, I see some prone form lying on the ground.

I immediately realize that it was Cliffjumper.

Running forward, I slide down on the ground beside him. I try to speak, but no words come out. As I begin to panic, the scene began to change. The blue crystals take on a purplish tint, illuminating the cavern in a pulsing, violet glow.

Cliff began to change as well. His wounds became more evident and jagged, and a purple substance began to leak from the wounds. Before I can respond, he moves to look at me.

"You left me," he growls. "You left me to die."

"I'm here now! I'll fix you, and I'll get Ratchet to help. You'll be fine…" But then an unnatural sound ripped from his lungs as he roared and lunged at me. I push back away from him. "Cliff! Stop this! Let me help you!"

"Too late," he grinds out, then, with a final lunge, everything goes black.

The next thing I know, my eyes pop open, only to be met by the harsh fluorescent lighting of the base. With a groan, I roll over onto my stomach and pull the pillow over my head. I was shaking slightly, heart racing, but I was too tired to really acknowledge it.

"Everon? Are you alright?"

I pull my head out from under the pillow in order to look at my concerned father who was kneeled down next to the platform I was sleeping on, placing him at eye level to me. With a forced smile, I reply, "I'm fine. Just a little restless."

I can tell that he knows that I'm not fine, but he doesn't press any further. "The others should be back soon with the humans. I take it that you might want to start getting ready soon."

"Alright." As he turns to walk away, my mind turns back to the energon in my dream. The crystals that turned from blue to purple. And I think of how Cliff was leaking, purple energon, much like what Arcee mentioned. "Dad, that substance, the one on Arcee, could it possibly be…" But my sentence is interrupted by Ratchet's cry of shock.

I rush over to watch as the remnants of the claw Bulkhead broke skittered across the floor, looking almost as if it were alive, straight towards Ratchet. It was jumping around, attacking him while he swung a steel pipe to try and crush it. The little machine merely ducked behind some screens and then sliced his microscope in half. "I needed that!" Ratchet cried out, obviously frustrated over the situation at hand. The claw then jumped into the air towards me. Just before it reached me, though, my dad expertly shot the claw out of midair. When the claw tried to stand back up, he merely stepped on it, effectively destroying the little death trap.

"And stay broken," Ratchet threatens to the little pile of scrap, as if he did anything even though it was my dad who stopped the claw.

** "**Aww," I cry out. "You should have let me have a go at it! It's not often we fight something that's even remotely close to my size!"

The look my dad and Ratchet gave me suggested that they thought I might not be right in the head at the moment.

"Now what could have caused that!" Ratchet asks, clearly bewildered at the moment.

"It has to be that substance that Cliff was leaking! The stuff on Arcee. That's what I was going to tell you Dad. I think it's some kind of mutated energon, one that brought this claw to life. One that brought back Cliff as a monster…"

"And I believe I know exactly which kind of energon it is," my dad tells me. "Dark energon…"

"An energon that can bring inanimate machines back to life…. It would also account for Cliffjumper's life signal popping back online," Ratchet mused. "But… dark energon? It's so scarce as to be virtually nonexistent! What would it be doing on Earth…"

"Take a wild guess," I suggest sarcastically.

"It was transported," my dad states. "By Megatron."

"For what purpose?"

"To conquer this planet by raising an army of the undead."

"Well," Ratchet continues, "Megatron will have to break quite a few toaster ovens. I mean, where on this world would he find that many Cybertronian dead."

My dad takes a moment to turn to me. "Everon, you might want to go get ready. The others should be here at any moment. Ratchet and I need to discuss some things."

"But…"

"Please, my daughter. We will talk later." His eyes are pleading to me to stand down from this, so I give a quick nod and rush towards my room. After quickly getting dressed and preening my hair and makeup, I make it back into the main room just in time to see Jack, Miko, and Raf pull in with their respective Bots. They all seemed to have been enjoying themselves based on their shouts of excitement, even Jack. This made me grin: perhaps he is finally accepting the Cybertronian half of my life. I could only hope it stays this way.

As the three newly arrived Bots shifted though, a clanking sound could be heard inside Bulkhead's chest. "Uhh…" He then opens his chassis only to pull out a guitar case.

"Sorry," Miko responds while taking the case from Bulkhead. "Must have left that in the backseat."

"Autobots," my dad announces, "Prepare to…" he hesitates, taking in the three new humans standing next to their respective guardians.

"Roll out?" Arcee suggests when Optimus doesn't finish.

"Remain here. Ratchet, you'll come with me. Arcee, we'll be outside communications range for some time. So I'm putting you charge."

Looking to Bulkhead, Miko says, "Dude, you're biggest! You should be the boss."

"Umm… He never picks me."

"Last time Bulkhead was left in charge," I tell her and the kids, "I was four and somehow managed to ground bridge myself to Guatemala. My dad was not too pleased. Let's just say Bulk's lucky he found me."

Arcee decides to speak up at this moment. "Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing, babysitting is another!" Jack sighs and shakes his head, deciding not to even argue the babysitting point. "Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war."

"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!"

"For the moment," Optimus replies carefully, "it is only reconnaissance."

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" she questions.

"Arcee, much has changed in the last twenty four hours, and we all need to adapt." Looking behind him at our medic, he states, "Ratchet, bridge us out."

"Be careful!" I yell. "Both of you! Or by the all spark, I will kick both your afts!"

Optimus looks at me and gives a warm smile, while Ratchet merely scoffs but not in a harsh way. And with that, they walk into the open ground bridge.

"Okay, chief," Jack says, "So, uhh, what's on the activities list?"

With an exasperated look, Arcee responds, "I'm going on patrol."

"But Optimus told us to stay," Bulk chimes in.

"When you're in charge, you can call the shots. Bee, with me."

**Seriously?** the young scout bleeps as he walks towards her with slumped shoulders.

"Bulkhead," she continues, "you're in charge."

"Are you sure that's okay?" he asks. "I mean, after Guatemala and the incident in Canada."

"First off, no one is ever to mention the Canada incident!" I shout. "Never! Secondly, you could leave me in charge."

Raf leaned towards Jack an asked, "What happened in Canada?" He merely shrugged.

Arcee rolled her optics. "This from the girl who spent the last time she was in charge teaching Bulk, Bee, and Cliff what a prank is, and then initiated a prank war which ended very badly."

"It wasn't _that _bad, was it?" Miko asked.

"Optimus and Ratchet ended up _pink_. And _glittered_."

"Hey now!" I said in my defense. "That paint bomb was meant for Cliffjumper and Bumblebee! Those two weren't supposed to be back from patrol yet."

With one last shake of the head, she says to Bulk, "Don't let her mess with the ground bridge controls." With that, she and Bee shifted and drove off through the base exit.

After watching them drive away, Bulk asks, "So, uh, what's on the activities list?"

"Ev could tell us what happened in Canada," Jack suggested. "Or not…"

His question was cut off by the high pitch squealing of Miko's amp as she adjusted the volume. "How 'bout… band practice!"

"But we're not a band!" Raf points out.

"Why so antisocial? C'mon Raf! You play anything?"

"Um…"

"Use your computer," I suggested. "It's how I used to write and create my music."

"You write?" Miko asked excitedly.

"Not really. A friend of mine did, but I supervised and made suggestions. I can't play any instruments, though."

"Jack?"

Sheepishly, he says, "I sometimes mess around on the harmonica." I roll my eyes at his response.

"Do I look like I do country? Just, cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming."

"Uhh…"

"Bulkhead! Percussion! We can go for a big industrial sound."

I chuckle a bit, adding in with a smirk, "Jack has played the drums since he was six. And he is awesome at it by the way."

"Seriously?" Miko asks. Turning to him, she continues, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Uhh…" Jack was looking a bit uncomfortable under Miko's harsh gaze, so he blurted out, "Everon can sing! Really well! And she used to take dance classes as well as martial arts!"

"Traitor!" I yell with a mock pout.

"You started it!" he countered.

"Both of you, zip it! Raf you're on keys and sound effects! Jack you're drums! Ev, lead vocals! Bulkhead is the roadie and bodyguard! D.I.Y.! We're a band. Now you all need to learn some songs. You guys listen. This one's a ballad. It's called "My Fist, Your Face'!" She then proceeds to strum what sounds like a random jumble of chords on her guitar.

Sadly, I recognized the song, and she was doing a rather better version than the original artists.

Soon, green, flashing lights for the proximity sensors could be seen. Of course, you couldn't hear them over Miko's excessive guitar strumming. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bulk shouts over the noise.

"Oh come on," Miko gripes. "You can't handle raw power?"

"That's the proximity sensor!" I yell while running over to Bulk's outstretched hand. While he lifts me up, I yell, "Quick hide!"

The trio barely has time to scramble over behind Bulkhead's leg when Fowler comes out of the elevator. "Prime!"

"Here!" I yell.

"Not you Ever, your dad."

"Agent Fowler," Bulkhead greets. "Uhh, he's not here. Nobody's here! Except me of course."

"Well, where did he go?" my godfather pressed further. "Wait don't tell me: he's out pancaking a mini mall."

"Seriously, who has been messing with your coffee supply?" I ask him sarcastically. "Your usual charming self has been personified as of late."

"Now, I don't know what language you Bots speak on your planet…" Bulk steps to the left to cover the others who are trying to peek out from behind his leg. "…but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons. And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is _not _what the word handle means in English…" all during his rant, Miko's guitar was making noise over the amps she was still plugged into.

_Please_, I think, _Don't look at the cord. Just look away from the cord._ I go as far as to make exaggerated and albeit a little rude mocking faces to keep his attention.

Unfortunately, it's not enough. "…so you tell Prime… Since when are you Bots electric?"

_Scrap._

"Uhh… new… system… testing?" I offer.

Realizing the gig is up, the trio steps out from behind Bulk with Jack being the first to speak up to Fowler who immediately recognizes him. "Hey Mr. Fowler… How are you doing?"

Fowler looks at me in disbelief. "That is so not my fault."

"Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gone off the books this time. Wait: don't tell me. You're running a daycare center!"

While Bulk and I look at each other, trying to figure out what to say, Jack cuts in. "We're interns!"

"Student interns!" Raf adds.

"Earning extra credit in…"

"…Auto shop!" "Robotics!"

I smile grimly down at them from where I stand in Bulk's hand. "Nice try.."

Fowler begins to move down the stairs towards all of us as Bulk sits me down on the floor next to the trio. "Okay," Fowler says. "Let's move. I'm taking all three of you into federal custody. Everon included for the time being. It's for your own protection."

Before Fowler could reach us, however, a large metal foot blocking his path stopped him. "We're protecting them," Bulkhead proclaimed. "And you may be her godfather, but she's Optimus' daughter. And my little sister. So Ev stays here, too."

"Well maybe you can explain that to _my _superiors at the Pentagon." He then picks up a standing landline telephone, aiming to make a call since cell phones did not work here.

"Don't use that phone, it's…" Bulk then reached forward and stuck his oversized finger into the phone, effectively stopping the call, but breaking the phone in the process. "…out of order."

"This isn't over big butt! Not by a long shot!" he then storms up the staircase towards the elevator, obviously leaving to find another way to contact his superiors.

Bulkhead and I merely sigh in frustration, knowing that things were not turning out very well. "At least we are not stuck in Guatemala…"

* * *

Not long after Fowler left, another alarm system went off, one that was much louder than the proximity sensors.

"My ears…" Raf complained.

"Scrap," I say as I climb the ladder to the platform next to the computer screens. "It's an S.O.S. signal."

As Bulkhead looked at the screen, he announced, "From Fowler!" Then, with a confused look on his face, he begins to look for a way to shut off the alarm. Soon however, the alarms just stopped, and I motioned Bulk to hold me in front of the screen.

"Did you trace it?" Raf asked.

After looking at the screen for a minute, I sigh. "The location scan was incomplete."

Bulk merely shrugs. "Oh well."

"Wait, seriously?"

"What? Fowler's a jerk."

"Whoa!" Jack interjects while I stand steaming in Bulk's hand. "Whether you like him or not, the Decepticons may have him!"

"And Agent Fowler knows your location!" Raf adds. "Our location…"

"And did we not just witness how fast Fowler backs down from a Bot? The Cons will totally make him squeal!" Miko says.

I chime in, trying not to raise my voice but failing miserably. "Not to mention that Fowler is my godfather! Grump or not, he is _my_ family, which makes him _your _family too."

"But we lost the transmission!" Bulk says in his defense. "Fowler could be anywhere!"

"Maybe I can narrow it down," Raf suggested. "About five years ago, the government started micro-chipping it's agents. Like owners do with pets." Everyone just looks at him. "What? I saw it on T.V. Anyway, if I can hack my way onto the feds mainframe, I should be able to get a lock on his location."

"You know how to hack?" Miko asked incredulously. "But you're, like, two years old."

"Twelve. And a quarter." After typing away at his computer for a bit, Raf begins to spit out coordinates. "Latitude 39.5, longitude 116.9."

"Okay, wait here," Bulk orders.

"I'm coming with you," I announce as he moves to open the ground bridge.

"No, you're not. You're staying here and you're in charge."

"Bulk we don't have time for this. Fowler and the base's integrity are at risk. The Cons most likely have him on their warship, and you know I'm your best bet of finding him."

"Are you crazy? I am not going to take you anywhere near the Cons, let alone their warship! I don't care if you have every inch of that ship memorized! You. Are. Not. Going!"

"Wait," Jack says. "How does Ev know her way around the Cons' warship? I mean, did she memorize schematics or something?"

"Not now Jack," I ground out, still locked in a glaring contest with Bulkhead.

"Seriously? Can you stop putting off telling us already? What are you hiding, Ev? I can understand you not wanting to tell Miko or Raf, you just met them, but me? I've known you since we could walk! But lately, I'm beginning to wonder if I know you at all!"

"Do you want to know the truth, Jack!" I scream at him. "Well here's the truth. When I was seven, I didn't suddenly get transferred. I was kidnapped by Megatron and lived on his warship for _five years_ before I managed to sneak off when I was twelve! Want to know why he took me? Not just because I was Optimus' kid! In a spark shock, you need _two_ slivers from different sparks! Guess who the other half of my spark belongs to!"

Jack took a step back, clearly shocked. "Megatron…"

"Bingo! Oh, and the real reason the Bots don't want me near the Cons is that they're still afraid I might flip."

Bulkhead sounded shocked. "Everon, you know that's not true."

"Oh really? I've seen the looks you all give me. The way you dance around the subject of my capture and what happened there. You know they didn't hurt me. And you're all afraid I might go back, no matter how much I say that I'm loyal to the Autobot cause. So if you want to prove to me that you trust me, then take me with you to that warship so I can finally prove myself!"

By the end of my rant, my voice is shaking and tears are threatening to spill from my eyes. Bulkhead looks sadly down at me and says, "We have always loved and trusted you, Everon. If we did anything to seem otherwise, I can tell you that we are all so sorry." He sighs and then scoops me up while mumbling, "If Optimus flipped over Guatemala, he is going to rip out my spark over this one…"

Now calmer, I respond softly, "I wouldn't let him touch you, Bulk." He smiles at me, and I shout to the others as he sits me on his shoulder and heads towards the ground bridge, "Jack's in charge. We'll be back soon." And then we entered the portal.

After jumping through the portal, Bulk and I look around as he shouts, "Fowler!" Then I point straight ahead at our target. "Uh-oh. The whole Decepticon shebang."

There sat the Cons massive warship, hovering low to the ground and surrounded by cavern walls and the ground being patrolled by various troopers. "I told you he would be on the ship."

"I still hoped otherwise." He then made his way towards the ship, dodging behind rocks, as I balanced myself into a crouch on his shoulder. Unfortunately, a voice spoke up from behind us.

"Alright!" Miko whispered loudly. "What's the plan?"

"Miko!?" Bulk and I whisper loudly back. This was definitely not good. Not good at all.

Just then, a passing Vehicon trooper approached her and leveled a blaster towards her. "Oh," she responded. "Unwise."

"Miko get down!" I shout. She jumps over the rock she is next to and barely avoids getting shot. Immediately, I can feel Bulk grabbing me and sitting me rather roughly on the ground as he tackles the trooper. After some shared punches, Bulkhead has the trooper pinned to the ground.

Miko chooses this moment to try and 'help.' "Hold him still!" she says as she attempts to hit the trooper on the head with a rock she can barely lift. It doesn't really do anything. Bulk responds by scooping her up and tossing her lightly to the side.

I jog over to her and say, "I know it's frustrating, but the best way to help them focus is to focus on not getting squished."

"Kids!" Bulk yells. "Look away!"

"But…" she starts.

"Turn your head away!" I turn and cover my eyes, but Miko watches on as Bulk guts the Con before him, ripping out his circuits. She was in awe.

Once assuring our cover wasn't further blown, Bulk decides to radio for back up. "Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read?"

_"Loud and clear, Bulkhead."_

"I have a situation…" he said nervously as I peered out around the corner of rock we were hiding behind.

_"Bulkhead, they're children, humans. Just do whatever."_

Once Bulk relayed the situation, Arcee was not too happy and skidding could be heard over the comm link. _"You're where? Everon's where?!" _

After a few minutes of waiting on the backup to arrive, Bulk speaks up. "What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee?"

"Just give them time, Bulk. They'll be here soon, and we can send Miko back."

"You do realize they are probably going to try to send you back, right?" he replies cautiously.

"Like I'd give them the option."

Miko cuts in. "Dude, the Cons could be putting the clamps on Fowler right now! Let's just storm the joint." As soon as she finished speaking, a ground bridge could be seen opening where we came through.

"Finally," I state. Unfortunately, it didn't let through the reinforcement we were expecting.

"Why don't those guys go hang with their own Bots?" Miko quips. "This is our one on one time." Bulk and I just sigh in frustration at our luck.

"Are your bones vibrating?" Raf asks Jack after they step through the portal. Then, the two look up to see the massive warship before them. And several Vehicon troopers aiming their blasters at them.

Bulk, Miko, and I could think of only one thing to say.

"Scrap."

Then after burying my face in my hands, I add, "This is _so_ worse than the Canada incident..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: I do not own the Transformers Prime series, but I do lay claim to Everon Prime. **

Where did we leave off? Oh yeah, Jack and Raf were getting_ shot _at by Vehicon troopers from Megatron's warship while Bulk and I were wondering where our back up was. Things were starting to get interesting.

As Jack and Raf were dodging blaster fire, Raf fell to the ground, only to have Jack jump over him to act as a shield for the young boy. Though I had always known Jack to be the selfless type, even I was a little shocked by his quick battlefield thinking as well as his protective instincts. During Jack's act of heroism, though, Bulk shifted into his vehicle form to go and save them from getting fried.

Bulk skidded to a quick stop next to the two boys, throwing his door open and yelling, "Get in, now!" As soon as the two boys scramble into the front of his vehicle form, he shuts the door and takes off with some fancy swerving to avoid being shot.

"Thanks Bulkhead," Jack manages to say after climbing into the passenger seat.

Raf adds I grab him and hold tight from my spot in the passenger seat, "Yeah, thanks!"

"What are you doing here?!" I ask incredulously as I glare at the two of them.

Jack responds quickly with, "We were worried about Miko. Have you seen her?"

As I roll my eyes and shake my head, Miko pops up from the back seat. "What's she look like?" By this point, I feel really bad for Bulkhead when we get back to base. That is, if we all make it back in one piece.

After reaching a giant bolder, Bulk pulls around to the side that has the most cover and stops. "Alright, everyone out. And this time," he adds pleadingly as the boys file out, "Please stay here?"

Bulk then takes off towards the ship, dodging the never ceasing blaster fire until he is directly below it. Then, with a sharp turn, he drives up some angled rocks and propels himself onto a cliff face while shifting into his bipedal form. I can't see from my position inside his chassis, where he let me to keep me safe, but I can assume he is climbing the rock face he just hurled himself at during his shift.

After some jumping around and a bit of blaster fire, I can feel him land on a solid surface, so I knew he was already on the ship. Next came the rough movements of what I assumed was Bulk fighting, along with the sounds of clashing metal and blaster shots from him and distant sources, presumably some poor trooper. But, it's around this time I realize that I'm not alone riding in Bulk's chassis. I can hear breathing and what sounds like someone about to be sick. _Primus, why can't I catch a break?_

After one final jump and a body slam, Bulk pauses, and I can hear his slightly muffled voice sternly yell, "Where's Miko!" I took this as a cue to bang on the wall of his chassis and inform him of our stowaway.

Just as he opened his chassis, I quickly pull myself out and swing onto his shoulder. I sat and crossed my legs before leaning over with my head my hand and the other hand gesturing towards his chassis. "Take a wild guess."

The stowaway then sticks her head out while breathing heavily as Bulkhead looks down at her and yells, "Miko?!"

Without even the faintest hint of gravity of her actions, she replies, "I heaved on your floor mats. Sorry." She then began to make motions as if she was going to hurl more, and I slide myself a little away from the crazy little Japanese girl.

"Well, this gives a whole new meaning to carsickness." I respond while watching Miko crawl onto Bulk's open hand from his chassis.

Miko then crawled off Bulk's hand when he lowered her to the ground. "Remind me never to do that again."

Before either Bulk or I could say anything, another trooper is tackling Bulk from the side, and I'm flying through the air only to land on the ground. Hard. All I could sense at the time is a sharp pain in my side from the landing on the metal surface of the ship. Soon, Miko was standing over me, shouting my name. As I try to sit up, she says, "Whoa, wait a sec. You had to have broken something in that fall; just, just don't move, okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" She then proceeds to wave her hand incredibly close to my face.

"Three," I snap. "And thanks for the concern, really but I'm fine. Really."

"But…"

"My bones are made up of an organic metal like the Bots' outer shell and internal parts. Trust me, I'm just going to have some really bad bruises on my shoulder." As I sit up, I wince. "And my butt…"

Just then, a platform door opens and two Vehicon troopers pop up right beside us. They look at Miko and I, and one reaches for me while asking, "Princess, are you al…" His sentence was cut short by Bulkhead shooting the Con, and Miko

and I jumped to side, only to find us caught in between the Cons and Bulk's fire fight.

"Princess?" Miko asks with a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm Megatron's daughter and heir. It's supposed to be a sign of respect, even though I keep saying to not call me that."

Trying our best to stay low as the blasts continue, I soon hear the sound of breaking metal and watch as a huge chunk of metal flies over our heads to take out the Cons. I glance over at Bulk and say, "Nice aim." He looks worried for a second, but before he can say anything, I lift my hand to cut him off. "I'm fine, just a few bruises. We need to move before reinforcements arrives."

Bulkhead becomes serious suddenly, and he nods his head and walks over to scoop us both up into his large palm. Just as he lifts us up, though, more shots come from behind him. "Down the hatch!" I yell as I point towards the hatch where the previous two troopers came from. "It's a way easier entrance then what I had previously in mind.

Sprinting towards the hatch, Bulk climbs in all while carrying us and slams the hatch shut. "That way," I declare pointing down the hall to our left. While running down the hall, we encounter two more troopers. Bulk, not slowing his pace, uses a bowling swing to slide Miko and I along the ground past the two troopers as he drove in to take them out.

After Miko and I stop sliding and slowly begin to stand, she looks at me and says, "I'm gonna heave again."

"You heave on these boots, and you will see something worse than a Con," I warn. She nods, obviously to not really caring about my mock threat. Then, bulk scoops us up again and continues running down the hall.

I give Bulk a few more directions towards the Brig, where Fowler was most likely being kept, until we heard new footsteps coming from around the upcoming junction's corner… He then slows and pulls out his blaster, motioning us to be quiet, as he edges to the turn.

Just as he reaches it, out pops a familiar blue Bot with her blasters aimed and ready. Within a split second of her pounce, she announces, "Friendly!" as Bulk says, "Hello!" in a startled way.

Bumblebee then emerges with the boys. "Brought the humans, huh?" Arcee asks.

"You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulk defends himself.

"Hey!" Miko proclaims. "You brought Ev!" I jump to try and cover her mouth as she says this, but I was half a second too slow.

Arcee looked ready to kill. "Wait," she says dangerously to Bulk. Bee tries to move in between them, but she just edges towards Bulk who is backing away and ignores Bee. "You willingly brought Everon to the Cons' warship? Knowing Megatron might be back? Are your circuits fried!?" She tried to whisper her words, but the sharpness of her tone was evident.

"Don't get mad at him!" I counter. "I guilt tripped him into taking me. You know that I'm an asset when it comes to knowledge of the Decepticons' ship, and besides, its about time you stop treating me like some fragile little girl and start letting me act like an Autobot!"

Arcee sighs in frustration. "We can finish this later. Right now, we need to find Fowler and get these kids off the ship safely."

"Hence why I'm helpful!" They just look at me. I roll my eyes and jab my arm to the right. "The brig is that way."

As we continue on our way, we soon encounter a heavy attack of Vehicon troops from both sides. The Bots engage the troops as blaster fire was raining from everywhere, and I did my best to keep the trio from getting squished, which was easier said than done. "We need to move, now!" I shout, but they were obviously overwhelmed as I ended up dragging them from spot to spot, avoiding flying pieces of the troopers.

As a trooper's head fell next to me, I began to feel sick. I may be an Autobot at my core, but I had once lived here alongside these soldiers. They called me their princess. I couldn't help but feel sick at the sight of their remains. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to dwell as Jack pulled me out of range of a falling limb, and I resumed helping the three avoid being flattened.

When the fight was over, my Autobot family merely continued on as if it was nothing. I knew this was war, but I questioned whether I could ever fully get over the idea of seeing a Cybertronian die, even if he fought for the other side.

Shaking my head slightly, I help Miko from the ground as Jack helped Raf, and I look from them to the Bots. "We can't keep moving on like this with them. It's hard enough that I need to tag along, with them as well one is bound to get hurt, especially when we attack the Brig. It's position is like a choke point, so the fighting could get heavy."

**What do we do with them?** Bumblebee bleeped.

"There's a communication room through some doors just up ahead. Low traffic and use. Take out the few guards their, and the three can wait for us till we Fowler, and we will then take a closer alternative exit. Exiting should be easier than getting in."

The three Bots exchange glances and then nod to me, moving to proceed forward to the communications room. As they entered, the four of us hung back outside. Some blaster fire later, I heard Arcee announce, "Clear!" and I ushered us inside with our guardians. "Wait in here."

**Are you sure they will be fine?** Bee asks nervously.

"They are slowing us down and are easy targets. They should be fine in here," Arcee responds. "As long as they _stay_ put."

"Just don't make a lot of noise, okay?" I tell the three as Bee picks me up and sits me on his shoulder. "And if a Con does come in here, hide and just wait for us to come and get you. We should be back soon with my cranky godfather in tow."

With that, the Bots race from the room and I resume my post guide from Bee's shoulder. "We are close. The Brig should be just up ahead. But before we go in guns blazing, hold for a second. I think I might have an idea."

* * *

Soon, Bulkhead and Bumblebee are taking out the main guards blocking the Brig while Arcee and I carry out the other part of my plan. Crawling through the vent shafts, Arcee decides to speak up. "You seem to know these vents pretty well."

Whereas she was crawling, I walked along side her. I had plenty of room within the vents. "It's the only place I could go and get some alone time when on the ship. The only person who could find or even reach me in here was Soundwave, and unless my father wanted me, he respected my alone time and let me be."

After a pause she begins to speak, but I motion her not to speak and point to the light shining from the vent floor just ahead. As Arcee and I move into position, her hanging from the hole and I hanging from her leg, we can hear a clanging from the door and listen to it open. From our position we couldn't see, but we could hear nearly everything.

"Well?" Starscream barks out. His words are followed by a crash and then a blaster shot. Starscream takes a step back, directly below the hole from in the vents, and opens his blaster towards my godfather. "Not so fast!" he yells towards the direction of the door where I can vaguely see Bulk and Bee standing.

Arcee takes this as her moment to step in, tapping Starscream on the head with her blaster, gaining his attention and effectively giving us the upper hand in the situation. "I wouldn't," Arcee proclaims.

"Oh but I might," Starscream drawls. Looking at me from where I hang on Arcee's leg, he sneers, "Hello there, _little Shadow_. Has our dear lost_ princess_ decided to come home?"

"_This_," I snap, "isn't my home. And _that_," I continue while pointing at Fowler, "is not yours."

"Pity then, that you care for this human's safety more than you want to shoot me. So, Agent Fowler and I will take our leave…"

Just then, the Decepticons' second in command was distracted by Fowler, though quite honestly, had situation been less dire, I would have shared the same confused look as Starscream when Fowler announced, "And the emu said yeah!"

With that said, I swing from Arcee's leg and grab hold of some of the chains that suspended my semiconscious godfather. Using a momentum to move along the chain like they were monkey bars. As a firefight ensued, I flipped over on the chain to where as I hung upside down, my head was level with his chest. After making a quick check of his torso and head, I deem that he was fit to move safely.

Even though his strange rambling was beginning to freak me out.

I turn to look at the short fight just to see Starscream's tail end as he jets off, knocking down Arcee and nearly me with his engine blast, and then narrowly missing barreling straight into Bumblebee and Bulkhead. I'm not really surprised. When it comes to fight or flight, Starscream seems more suited towards flight.

As Bulk helped Arcee off the floor, Bee came and sat me on his shoulder as he moved to unchain Fowler. **Is he okay to move?**

"I think so. No major wounds, just too many shocks with Knock Out's cattle prod. Rest and a saline IV and he should be good to go." Fowler groaned as Bee held him in his hand. "Though he is definitely gonna have a headache when he finally snaps out of la-la land."

* * *

After his rescue, the next stop was to grab the others. Then, we were getting off this rust bucket.

I rode in Bee's backseat with Fowler, making sure he didn't hurt himself or suffer any other symptoms to the energon shocks he had received to his system. "Since Starscream was still trying to interrogate him even though his mind is a bit… strained at the moment, I'm guessing it's safe to say that he didn't spill anything," I tell the Bots over Bee's comm link.

"_I guess that's one less thing to worry about,"_ Arcee states. _"Now we just have to grab those three and get out of here."_

**You're forgetting that we still have to explain to Ratchet and Optimus about the humans sneaking along. **Bee bleeps. **And why we let Ev near the Cons, let alone on the warship…**

"_Does anyone else think another round against the Cons sounds safer than that conversation…"_

I'm about to respond when up ahead, I see a puff of smoke followed by three small, running figures emerge from the communications room. "Scrap…" As a trooper emerges from the room, blaster aimed at the trio, Bulkhead begins to honk his horn to distract the trooper while all three Bots have their headlights on, blinding the trooper as well.

Bulk then transforms and lunges over the kids' heads, and while he takes down the Con, Bee and Arcee pull on either side of the kids. Miko and Raf climb in Bee and Jack on Arcee as she yells, "I told you to stay put!" Almost as quickly as we stopped, we are off again.

As Bee drives, Fowler leans forward in the seat towards the two new additions. In a delirious yet calm tone, he asks, "I like pie. Can we stop for pie?"

"You found Fowler!" Miko yells. "Rock on!" As she yells, Fowler passes out face first on Bee's console and Raf moves a bit in his seat away from the federal agent.

"Yep," I say as I try to get Fowler to sit back in his seat while Raf gave him a confused look. "And he is a little out of it, but he'll be fine so just ignore the strange behavior."

Soon, after a I give a few directions and we have a few near misses of various troopers on the ship, we mange to find the unloading ramp and get off that deathtrap. Now, we just need to get back to base.

And figure out how we were going to explain this to Ratchet and my dad...

* * *

When we made it back to base, I managed to hook up Fowler's IV as he laid on one of the spare human medical beds just in time for my dad and Ratchet to return. Let's just say, between Fowler's condition and the looks of all five Bots, both groups had a lot of explaining to do.

After Optimus helped to solder a wound on Ratchet's arm, Miko decided to speak up. "So what happened to you guys anyway?" It was clear by the condition of my dad and my mentor that they had fought a much worse fight than we did.

Ratchet decided to humor the girl and explain. "We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors."

"Zombies?" she replied. "You fought zombies and I missed it?!"

"Bulkhead," my dad stated. "You exercised extremely poor judgment by allowing the humans to accompany you."

Bulkhead stood, and after looking towards jack, Raf, Miko, and I, said, "It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise."

Miko, in a rare sign of maturity, spoke up. "But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault."

"Miko, please…"

I then decide to speak up. "It's my fault dad. I guilt tripped Bulkhead into taking me along, and Miko misinterpreted that as it being okay to follow. Jack and Raf only came to make sure Miko was okay."

My dad's face grew stern. "Why would you insist on Bulkhead taking you? You know the risks, Everon. You know that they would try to capture, especially since Megatron's return. Also, you could have been hurt or…"

"When are you going to stop looking at me as a liability and start looking at me as an Autobot!" I yell, stunning him. "I was the best asset for navigating that ship. In case you haven't noticed, it's massive and designed to be like a maze to someone who doesn't know what they are doing!"

"Still, it's not safe…"

"I was perfectly fine…"

A sharp whistle cut off the argument. "Before you two get too involved in your father/daughter squabble, check this out!" she announced, holding out her flip phone. "Recon!"

I walk over and look at the phone. "It's definitely something. Ratchet, you might want to check it out. It could be important to my fath…" I immediately snap my mouth shut, aware of the awkward silence in the room. "It could be important to Megatron…" I finish in a whisper, with my head towards the ground.

Ratchet walks over as I dart to the side and cross my arms over my chest, still not looking up. I knew the slip hurt Optimus, but I also knew that despite everything… Megatron had never been a bad father to me during my time with him. Both he and Optimus loved me deeply. I just didn't know how to explain that.

As Ratchet looked at the screen, he says, "I…don't understand."

Miko turns her phone to look at the picture. "Oops. _That's_ the Con who tried to blow Raf away, at least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!"

"Miko," Jack snaps, "Raf was almost killed! This isn't a game, especially with that Megatron guy being back! When are you going to get that through your thick skull!"

"Umm… We were _all_ almost killed Jack. You, me, Raf, Ev… even them!" She yells while pointing to the Bots.

"Well, if this is just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it." My head snaps up, and my eyes lock onto Jack as he looks at me then turns his head down. "Not anymore."

"Jack," my dad says, "putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk, nut the safety of all humankind. We will respect your decision should you wish to leave."

Just as my dad finishes, the ground bridge opens, and Ratchet says, "No point in long goodbyes, here's the door." His happiness at getting rid of this human, though, quickly diminishes when he looks at me.

Jack turns to the young boy and says, "C'mon Raf."

After looking at Bee, though, Raf tells him, "I'll be okay Jack. See you at school."

"Sure thing…" He then turns to the ground bridge. After descending the stairs, he was blocked by Arcee's feet. "I know, you don't exist," he tells her as he continues past.

"Don't make me hunt you down," she tells him sadly.

As he reaches the ground bridge, I yell. "Jack!" He stops and turns as I jump the platform railing and rush over to him. I stop just a few feet from him, unsure of myself. "Jack…"

He smiles weakly at me. "We can still hang out at school and stuff, Ev. We can just go back… back to before this…"

I shake my head, tears forming in my eyes. "No Jack. This," I say while gesturing to the Bots around me, "is my family. This is me: who I am. Please," I near beg, "Don't make me choose. You may be my brother in everything but blood, but if you make me choose… I have to choose them." I tell him while my voice cracked. In a whisper, I plead to him. "Please don't make me choose…"

"I'm sorry Ev… I just can't. I'm sorry."

Something inside me snapped. I felt a rage building inside me, but I put on a face, not wanting him to see what was threatening to spill from inside of me. After the ground bridge portal closed behind him, I made my way at a smooth pace to the elevator, ignoring everyone who called out my name and gave me worried looks. After I reached the top of the base, I walked to Cliff's grave marker, a pile of stones with nothing under it but Cliff's horn.

And I screamed. I screamed and cried and beat the ground until nothing was left in me.

Then I numbly sat there with my knees drawn to my chest and stared at the grave marker.

* * *

After what felt like several hours, I heard a Bot approach me. Not the Bot I was expecting though.

"If Cliff were here," I told Arcee, "he would give me a pep talk, a brief one, then launch into one of his millions of stories or ponder aloud about some Earth custom until I laughed."

"He would talk for hours if need be," she said as she sat beside me. "He always hated to see someone upset. Especially you."

"You too."

"But where I was an equal, his partner, you were his little sister." She was silent for a moment, then said, "He would do anything for you."

"Yeah. And I left him to die…"

"Will you stop this!" she snaps. "Yes Cliff is dead, but there was nothing you could have done, Everon. I know that it's horrible, but life isn't always fair. The one thing you need to know though is that he died knowing that you were safe. That he had kept you from being recaptured or worse, hurt. Believe me, when he died, his spark was at peace knowing that you were safe. Now all you can do is honor his memory. Live for him."

And then she is silent. We sit in this silence for a while longer before she spoke up again. "How bad are those bruises?" I begin to ask how she knew, I had been wearing my leather jacket all day, and she continued. "Bulk pulled me aside and told me. Didn't want Optimus or Ratchet to find out. The only reason Optimus hadn't immediately followed you up there is because we've had at least two people constantly talking him down, to give you space."

"And if Ratchet found out about the fall…"

"We would have lost his overruling as medic to leave you be. I just came to warn you that you are going to have to be checked out. Soon." I sigh, but faintly smile. "We all love you, Ev. Especially your father. He just…"

"…worries," I finish for her. "Trust me, I know. It's just… I always end up hurting him since I came back. I don't mean to, but…"

"Optimus may be a great leader and skilled soldier, but when it comes to parenting, he has utterly no idea what he is doing. He just has all these protective instincts and no way to funnel them."

"I guess it doesn't help that my life is worse than a soap opera."

"What?"

"Overly dramatic and complicated TV shows. But… I need to talk to him. Soon. Once this whole mess is over. We've been needing to talk since I came back from the ship but…"

"That would be good. Just remember, we're your family. Family supports and accepts each other, no matter what."

"I wish Jack felt the same way."

"Me too, Everon. Me too."

* * *

"Optimus!" Ratchet yells as Arcee and I reenter the base. "These are the blueprints for a space time vortex generator."

My dad, who had yet to notice Arcee and I, said, "Megatron plans to build a space bridge."

"If he hasn't already," I say as I climb up to the platform, ignoring the looks I got and those trying to ask if I was okay. "He did leave for three years, and without using the ship, he doesn't have many forms of travel unless he wanted to use his vehicle mode the whole time."

"Well I say let him leave," Bulk announced.

"A space bridge runs in two directions," my dad states. "He may not be using it to leave Earth, but to bring through his conquering army."

"The main event Megatron referred to…" Ratchet said. "But the only place he could possibly recruit that many fallen warriors…"

"Oh no…" I whisper as realization dawns on me. "Cybertron…"

**And there you have it! And please, please, please, review! I really do like any critiques or thoughts you might offer me, good or bad. Hopefully not bad though.**


	6. Chapter 6

Whenever I first met Megatron, I had no idea of what he was capable of. The only side I ever saw was that of a loving father who wanted nothing more than to make up for lost time with his daughter. I had never seen his true nature while on board his ship, and even when I returned to the Autobots.

As his plan dawned on me and unfolded before my very eyes, I finally began to see the other half of his nature, the one which I deep done always knew existed but was ignored by the innocence of a daughter towards her father.

Megatron is a monster. A monster that wants to destroy my world and the innocent life on it with the dead of his own world.

He is a monster. And despite everything, part of me still loved him. He is my father.

I am the loving daughter of a monster.

* * *

My daddy, Optimus spoke up to the team. "We cannot allow Megatron to send dark energon through his space bridge. If we fail, the dead of Cybertron will rise, swarm through its vortex, and invade Earth."

My voice is hollow when I interject. "Human kind won't have a chance… They will bend this planet to Megatron's twisted rule."

Everyone is quiet. I merely slump against the wall, lean my head back, and sigh while closing my eyes. After a moment, I hear movement and look to see my dad standing before me. He is obviously nervous, trying to say something to me but he can't quite find the words.

Slowly I move forward and extend my hand to him in a familiar fashion. He looked at me as an encouraging smile crossed my face. After seeing my smile, he holds his hand out so I can grasp one of his large fingers with my outstretched hand. The happiness and relief seemed to overwhelm his face over this simple act.

To the outside observer, the motion might seem odd or strange. If you knew Optimus and I, though, the motion is as natural as the tide coming in and out on the shore each day. Throughout my life, I have never been larger than Optimus' palm. As an infant, he never held me much for fear of hurting me, but I would always hold out my hand to him whenever I saw him. My hand would stay outstretched until he would hold his hand to me and I could grasp one of his fingers. This is a habit I kept up into my childhood and even now, though it is less frequent.

Though we have never discussed it, it is our unofficial way of saying we love each other. And in some cases, such as now, to ensure each other that we were fine.

As I reluctantly release his finger, he holds his hand out for me, and I immediately climb on. After he sits me on his shoulder, exhaustion from the physically and mentally demanding day claims me, and I curl up into a ball and fall asleep.

* * *

"Optimus," Ratchet says as I groggily awake from my sleep on my dad's shoulder. "I have pinpointed the location of Megatron's space bridge, high in Earth's orbit."

"Out of our reach," my dad states as he approaches Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee. I notice that Raf and Miko are already here, but Arcee is surprisingly missing.

_How long was I out?_ I wonder, not even wanting to think about how I look at the moment.

"Okay," Miko says from her spot by Bulk's foot. "I know you guys can't fly or anything but can't you just ground bridge there?"

"The ground bridge has limited range," I explain to her as I rub the sleep from my eyes, which causes spot across my vision. "It has a limited range."

"Stretched all the way into orbit," Ratchet continues, "the vortex could snap, and scatter us to the stars."

"Since Megatron is likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk. Reaching the space bridge first is our only means of stopping him." At this moment, I chose to stretch, which turned out to be a bad move. The bruising to my side had only gotten worse over the night from sleeping on my dad's metal shoulder, and when I moved in my normal catlike stretching, I felt like I was being hit and stabbed in both my shoulder and side.

With a yelp, I slip from my dad's shoulder and start to fall. Just as this happened though, Arcee had pulled in with her extra passenger who immediately jumped off her and went to catch me. Unfortunately for my would-be hero, Arcee had already shifted and caught me in mid air. "You never had your side checked out last night, did you?" she asked in a slightly scolding tone.

"Maybe…" I told her but winced as I tried to straighten up in her hand.

With a roll of her eyes, she handed me to Ratchet who sat me on a nearby platform and immediately ordered me to take off the jacket I was wearing. As I move my arms to take the jacket off though, the motion jars my left shoulder and I wince in pain yet again.

"Here," said a familiar voice. "Let me help before you hurt yourself." I spin around to come face to face with Jack. "Hey, guess who's back…" I cut him off with a bone-crushing hug.

"Ow, ow, ow!" I yell. I then hit him in the back of the head with my good arm. "Don't you dare do that again." Then, I irrationally try to hug him again. Which hurt even worse. "Holy fragging Primus, that hurts!"

"Everon, language!" my dad tells me. "Now, please show Ratchet what's wrong." Jack then proceeds to help me take off my jacket, and the open back halter-top I wore showed off the large bluish-black bruise I now sported across my left shoulder and side.

Miko gave a long and low whistle. "Ouch. Remind me to never get dropped by you, Bulk."

"You dropped her!?" Ratchet yelled as he looked between my bruised form and Bulkhead.

"I was being tackled by a Con!" Bulkhead yelled in his defense.

"Enough!" I interject. "We don't have time for this. Ratchet can check this out. You all need to go. Now."

"Everon is right," my dad states. "Autobots, roll out!"

"Where to?" Arcee asks.

Miko steps forward and says, "The final frontier."

"Space?" Jack responds. "I thought they didn't have anyway to get there."

"They don't," Raf answers as Bumblebee sits him down. "Not really."

Jack turns to Arcee. "Be seeing ya?" She merely smiles at him and walks towards to other Bots as Ratchet fires up the ground bridge.

"Be careful Bee, " Raf tells his guardian.

**No worries, Raf.**

From Bulkhead's side, Miko states, "I'm so jealous!"

"Don't even think of following me."

"Optimus," Ratchet says, "If you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you."

"Until we meet again, old friend."

"Daddy?" I call out from the platform railing. He turns and to look at me. "Come back safe. All of you."

"Of course."

"Love you, Daddy."

He smiles. "I love you too. Always remember that, my dear Everon." With that, he turns to the open ground bridge. "Autobots, roll out!" With that, the four soldiers, my brothers and sister and father, my family, shift into their vehicle modes and drive out into the vortex and into the unknown.

After Ratchet checked to see if the comm links were working properly, he turns to me. "Alright, let's scan you to see if there is anything serious."

My dad meanwhile could be heard giving orders over the comm system. _"Autobots, transform and gravitize!"_ Soon after, a clanking sound could be heard as the Bots magnetized themselves to the space bridge.

Bulkhead could be heard talking to himself over the link. _"Whoa… Don't look down…or up…or left."_

"_So Megatron's packing enough dark energon to raise Cybertron's dead,"_ Arcee states to the group. By this point Ratchet's scans are complete, and he gives me a nod before going to type on his computer about my status.

"_And since we don't currently possess ready means of disabling the space bridge," _my dad continues. _"Nothing comes in or out!"_

The next silence is overwhelming. We were all waiting on the sounds of the impending battle to start, but instead we heard nothing. And that set us more on edge than anything.

"_Well,"_ Arcee asks, _"what are they waiting for?"_

After a pause, my dad responds, _"It appears that the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system."_

"_Hey!"_ Bulkhead responds. _"That's my handiwork!"_

"Yeah, that was the chunk of metal you threw over Miko and I's heads," I respond dryly.

"_Nice work, Bulkhead,"_ my dad says. _"Without the satellite, Megatron will be unable to aim his space bridge at Cybertron."_

Raf speaks up. "Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?"

"Naturally," Ratchet scoffs. "But Cybertron is many light years away. To reach their target, their aim must be astronomically precise."

"If there is one thing I learned about Megatron," I tell the group, "it's that he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of rendezvousing with the space bridge unless he had some other trick up his sleeve. I think we're living on borrowed time here."

"_Everon is right. Megatron must have another targeting system, a remote one," _my dad says.

Ratchet doesn't seem convinced. "From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio telescope dish powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."

"What about a bunch of linked radio telescope dishes?" Raf asks as he types away at a nearby computer. "Like the giant size array in Texas?"

"Hep, hep, hep!" Ratchet yells to hush the young genius. "This is not child's play!"

My dad speaks up over the frustrated medic. _"Good thinking, Raf. Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the potential hazard."_

My darling godfather chose that moment to speak up while jabbing a finger at Ratchet from his medical bed, showing exactly what kind of state he was in at the moment. "You there! Soldier! You're out of uniform. Put on some pants." He then collapsed back onto the bed.

"Huh," I mused while crossing my arms over my chest. "I thought he would have slept that off by now."

To Optimus, Ratchet says, "That… may be a challenge."

Raf immediately turns back to the computer and resumes typing away at the keyboard. "I can't get past the array's firewalls. They're too thick!"

"The guys who put that tracking chip in Fowler's behind might to take some notes from the people who designed that firewall," I chirp glumly.

"You… actually think you can keep the Decepticons out?" Ratchet asked skeptically.

"Maybe… if I could get in."

"Well then. If in is what you need, why not head to the source?" I ask. "Whose up for a little B and E?"

"If I was inside," Raf states, "I could work from the other side of the firewall."

"_I know what 'B and E' stands for Everon,"_ my dad says. _"And not only do I not want you getting arrested, but the risk is too great. The Decepticons could already be there, perhaps even on site."_

"Optimus," Jack says, "with all due respect, you said it yourself. This is bigger than three humans."

"Yeah," Miko continues. "If we let the Cons win, we're fragged, along with everyone else on our planet."

"We are going to do this, Dad. We have to. It's our planet that's at stake here. Let us help defend it."

"_Raf?"_ my dad questions after a pause.

The boy puts a determined look on his face. "I wanna give it a shot."

"_Ratchet, my daughter's condition? Is she well enough to go along and protect the three humans?"_

"She has some severe bruising along her shoulder and side, but nothing life threatening or anything I can treat. Painkillers won't work with her Cybertronian biology, and vice versa with any Cybertronian techniques."

"I'll be fine, Daddy. Trust me."

"_I trust you, my daughter. Be careful."_

With a smirk, I say, "Scout's honor."

"_Like you're a scout,"_ Arcee sarcastically responds.

* * *

Soon, I am jumping through the ground bridge onto the hard Texas dirt with Miko, Jack, and Raf right behind me. All three of them were a bit out of sorts from the vortex, something that I grew up with. "Well, that will take some getting used to," Jack says as he gathers his bearings.

"C'mon!" I say. "We don't know what kind of security this place has. Let's move, now." With that, I turn and run towards the door of the solitary concrete building in front of us, hearing their footsteps soon echoing mine. I wanted to hurry this up: the sooner we get into the system, the better.

Entering the building was easier than I had thought. There had been utterly no challenge as I make one last check of the halls before closing the door to the computer room we were holed up in. "Security sure is lax in this place," Miko comments.

I sigh. "Why bother with such an advanced firewall if you aren't even going to do more than put a simple chain link fence around the place to keep people out?"

Raf, from his place seated in front of a computer, announces, "I'm in! And so are the Decepticons…"

"What?" Jack asks.

"How can you tell?" Miko continues.

"Schematics. With the same alien math we saw on their ship. But this time, I can down load them!"

I look at the schematics. "That is definitely for the space bridge," I say and then muse to myself, "They may be evil, but I've got to hand it to them: they sure know their science. These plans are extremely advanced. I'm a little impressed."

"They are syncing it to their systems, but I can sync to them."

"Will they know?" Jack asks.

"Even if the Decepticons know I'm in the system, they'll have no idea I'm in the house."

"Just be careful," I warn as I watch some familiar coding come from the Decepticons' end. "That looks like Soundwave's networking. Trust me, he is the eyes and ears of the Decepticons and isn't easily fooled."

"They're locked onto Cybertron! But not for long." With a few taps of the keyboard, the uploading data in the system begins to blank out, signaling the space bridge being disconnected from the satellites signal.

But, within moments, the signals begin to pop back up. "The dishes are heading back towards Cybertron. I'll just do that again."

As I watch the Cybertronian coding as it flies across the screen, I notice a stream of data which showed Soundwave diverting part of his systems to something else. "Hey, Raf? Highlight that stream of coding."

"Why?" he asks as he does as I requested. "I can't do anything with it, it isn't converted to English yet."

"I read Cybertronian. Ratchet and Dad taught me when I was a sparkling, kid, whatever I was!" I then begin to read the coding while Raf continued his rapid typing.

"So what happens when the Cons realize they're being punked?" Jack asks.

"Relax," Miko responds. "What are they going to do? They're probably like and thousand miles away."

Suddenly, I freeze in my reading. "Scrap! He's in the security feeds! And he's in the bui…" I taper off as I suddenly flip around to see one of Soundwave tentacles above our heads. "Scrap!"

Jack turns and yells in surprise, and he and I tackle the tentacle as it tries to grab Raf. It then twists into Miko, and soon all three of us are being thrown through the air by Soundwave's spare arm.

It finally throws us off into a wall, and the shock from the hit jars the pain in my shoulder to a whole new level. "Seriously Soundwave! That fragging _hurts_."

The tentacle then turns to Raf. Just before grabbing him, he jumps on the desk, grabs the USB drive from the computer, and jumps off the desk just in time to avoid being hit by the arm's second grab at him, though the computer was smashed to bits.

Miko, in all her infinite wisdom, decides it's time to step in. So, she grabs the fire ax from the wall, and with a "He-yah!" she lunges at the tentacle, only to drop the ax when she is flung into the wall. The tentacle then grabs and dislodges the ax from the floor. "You handed it an ax?!" Jack yells at her.

"Not good…" Raf replies nervously.

Before the tentacle does anything though, I jump up off the ground, still clutching my damaged shoulder, and yell, "Don't even think about it Soundwave! You hurt them, you have to hurt me, and Megatron will have your head on a platter! Not that you would even bother with trying to take out a few mere humans that can't even hack the system anymore. The computer's wrecked." After a pause, the tentacle retreats out the door, still carrying the ax. "Let's move, now!"

Soon, we are racing in the direction the tentacle went, only to see Soundwave leaving through the skylight. Miko immediately pulls out her cell phone to snap a picture, which Soundwave, in turn, does the same, displaying the picture of me in a half crouched stance with the three of them clustered behind me. With that done, he transforms and takes off.

"Why's he leaving?" Miko asks.

Raf then runs up to a large cord on the floor with the ax sticking out of it. "He cut the hard line: the dishes are now locked onto Cybertron. For good."

"Ratchet," I say over my portable radio, which was linked to the comm unit. "Bridge us back. Now."

* * *

As we reentered the base, Ratchet began to speak. "Optimus, I'm registering a rapidly expanding mass in their space bridge vortex. One with a peculiar energy signature…"

My dad confirmed our fears. _"Dark energon… Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge. There is enough live energon coursing through it to achieve detonation, but we lack the firepower to ignite it."_

"If I knew how the space bridge was engineered, I might find a technical way of accomplishing it."

"Um…" Raf asks, holding out his USB drive. "Would schematics help?"

"Optimus," Ratchet continues, "I must say, the space bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain it's destruction is the only option?"

"_I am afraid so."_

"Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour!"

"_Autobots,"_ my dad continues to the others with him. _"Take your positions and follow Ratchet's lead! While I make my stand…"_

My knees felt weak as I clutched the railing for support, the pain in my shoulder and side long since forgotten. Optimus was going to face Megatron, alone. My two fathers would be battling each other, and I felt sick to my stomach. For the sake of my planet, Optimus must win.

Or, at least hold him off until we can rig the space bridge to blow.

Ratchet began to analyze the schematics for any points where the system can be manually breeched. I would normally help, but at the moment, I would only slow him down, especially with my mind being elsewhere.

A voice that I hadn't heard in what felt like ages came over the comm link. _"Your fellow Autobots are wise, Optimus. They know when to retreat."_

"_I hold no illusions about engaging your army, Megatron. But I might derail its objective… by removing its head." _

A maniacal laughter could be heard. _"Highly unlikely, Optimus, as I am infused with their very might!"_

"_On shall stand… One shall fall."_

As their fight begins, Fowler, who snapped out of his delirious state around when we got back, spoke up as he jabs his thumb over his shoulder at the screen displaying the space bridge vortex. "These… things are getting closer. That's bad, right?"

"_Ratchet, we're in position,"_ Arcee announces over the comm link. I obviously missed the part where Ratchet had told them where to go.

"Alright, Arcee," Ratchet says as Raf pulls up a diagram on the computer. "Pay close attention…"

I turn back to the fight, an idea forming in my head. "Daddy, can you put me on an open speaker? Please?"

"_Not now, Everon."_

"_Ah, how is my daughter doing? Has she grown tired of your Autobot ways yet?"_

"_Leave her out of this, Megatron."_

"Daddy, please, I can distract him. Just let me talk to him, and remember, though what I plead to him is true, I love you and will never leave you for him."

"_Well Optimus, she is obviously speaking to you? What does my lovely Shadow Tronus have to say?"_

After a pause, he responds, _"She… wishes to speak to you."_

"_What?"_ Megatron responds, sounding a little shocked.

"_Go ahead, Sweetspark. He can hear you now."_

With a bit of hesitation in my voice, I speak up, gaining more confidence the more I speak. "Father? Father, it's me. Please stop this. Stop this senseless quest for power."

"_My daughter, I can't. Don't you see? I shall rule this puny world as a king, and you will rule with me as this rock's princess. You shall have everything in the palm of your hand…"_

I snap back, "Since when have you known me to want death and destruction? All I have ever wanted is peace, an end to all the senseless killing and war mongering. Cybertron died from this war, your own planet! And now you intend to do the same to mine! I don't want that. All I want is for you to stop this."

"_Shadow, the Autobots have blinded you…"_

"I don't care about sides! I don't care if you're an Autobot or Decepticon or human! All that matters is that you're my father. The one who may have kidnapped me, but loved me and cared for me and looked at me as if I was the center of your universe. I want that father. Not the king offering me a ravaged world, one where I grew up and loved just as you love your old Cybertron. I want him… Please…" my voice had gone down to a whisper, cracking ever so often as I spoke.

"_My daughter, I'm so sorry, but you will see…"_

"No. I won't. Continue on this path, and you will lose me. So choose. Me or your selfish quest for power."

He is quiet for a moment, and as he starts to speak again, he is interrupted. _"What is it, Starscream?"_ he bellows. After listening to the response, he chuckles. _"Misdirection. Well played, my dear Shadow. There is hope for you yet to become a fine Decepticon."_

"I've already chose my side," I respond firmly. Then, the sounds of fighting resume, and I sigh as I see the screen show that the comm links have returned to their normal functions. Megatron could no longer here me. "I tried, Daddy. Be careful."

I turn back to Ratchet, who seems to have made some progress with the others. "Now, follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump. There should be a valve."

"_I see it,"_ Arcee responds.

"Good. To turn all that power against itself, all you need do is reverse the current."

After a load grunt on her end followed by a clank, she announces, _"Current reversed."_

"Yes!' Fowler yells, startling all of us. Then to Raf, he asks, "Right?"

"I've already opened the ground bridge," Ratchet tells them.

"Ev," Jack asks as I approach him and the other humans. "Are you alright? I mean…"

With a faint smile, I tell him, "I'll be fine. I just…"

"Optimus!" Ratchet announces over the comm units. "The ground bridge is ready and waiting."

"_Autobots, jump!"_

As we all anxiously watch the ground bridge, Raf says, "Do you… think they're…"

Ratchet looks to the scanner on his arm. "Four life signals. One very faint…"

First, my dad stops through the portal. He is a bit battered, but all together fine. I immediately run to him, and he scoops me up to his chassis and holds me as tightly as he could safely do so.

Next is Bulkhead, who looks a bit down. Miko screeches his name happily and runs towards him down the platform stairs like I did, only with Jack and Raf in tow. He offers her his hand, which she hugs as best she can.

Next is Bee, who comes running in with a very worried look towards the Bot in his arms. And the Bot he carried with him was a very injured looking Arcee. Jack ran up to her as my dad sat me on the ground to join him where Miko and Raf already had.

We just stared at her prone form as Ratchet said, "We already lost one this week, by the allspark, don't let it be two."

Jack then took a few quick steps forward and placed his hand in hers. She slowly opened her eyes to weakly look at him. "Arcee…"

"Jack… Really?" she managed to respond weakly. "There are other motorcycles in the world…"

Not taking his eyes off her, he says, "But you're my first."

Seeing that she will be fine, Ratchet glances at Optimus. "And Megatron?"

I turn around from the moment Arcee and Jack were sharing to look at my dad. "Not even he could have survived ground zero."

"I tried…" I say quietly as I look towards the ground.

My father then kneels before me before speaking again. "If Megatron could not realize the importance of what he was losing when he chose war over you, the he does not deserve you." I look up and smile, a few tears forming in my eyes as I hold out my hand and he his for me to grasp his finger.

"Prime!" Fowler bellows on his way to the elevator. "I didn't get to thank you Bots for the save. I owe you one. We all do. And Ever, try to avoid breaking into anymore federal compounds? It took me a week to clear your record after the Canada incident."

"What happened to agreeing to never mention that again!"

After the elevator door shut, Bumblebee set Arcee down gently on her feet, making sure she didn't fall. Miko then chose this moment to approach my father. "So, is this the part where you say goodbye?"

My dad glanced at me, and I could already tell what he had decided. I look to the others, a smile on my face, and announce, "Welcome to Team Prime!"

* * *

**Viola! The first five parts of the series are done. Now, onto the rest of the episodes… this could take a while. So, please keep reading and review! More is definitely to come! And the next chapter, I intend to make a bit of a flashback chapter with one of the Bots. Who? You will just have to read tomorrow. **

**Once again, please review! I love reviews. They are awesome. **


	7. Optimus

**And now here is a little glimpse into the mind of one of the Autobots as he reminisces about Everon's life. Enjoy!**

**Also, I do not own Transformers Prime or the song **_**With Arms Wide Open**_** by Creed. Would love to, but I don't.**

* * *

Without a means of leaving this world, we Autobots take strength in the bonds we have forged with our three young friends, true warriors, if not in body, then in spirit.

My name is Optimus Prime, and I send this message. Though we did not choose Earth, it would seem as if we are here to stay. If you approach this planet with hostile intent, know this: we will defend ourselves. We will defend humanity.

We will defend our home.

* * *

As I finish my message, I stand atop our base to look out at the vast desert landscape, marveling over this planet's beauty as the sun set in the distance. Though I still miss my home world that I lost, I still appreciate the new world I have gained.

And, I have gained something more precious than a new home during my stay here.

I turn my gaze to the small figure sitting near the edge to my left. During my time on Cybertron, I sometimes would consider a future with a family, children to call my own. Then the war came, and I quickly dashed any ideas of ever wanting to bring a child into this chaos.

But, even though she was an accident, I could not imagine my life without her.

When her mother was injured, I had been forced to make a rash decision. Pleading to the man I once called my brother, I begged him for a piece of his spark to save the human I called my friend. He seemed more amused than anything, but surprisingly, he granted my request, giving his excuse to be his last acknowledgement of the friendship we once shared. Though, when we parted, he told me never to expect such a courtesy again.

Then, after Megatron had been long gone, my young human friend left by medevac helicopter with Agent Fowler as I watched on from my vehicle form, expecting to never see her alive again.

Imagine my and the team's surprise when Fowler brought her back to us, seemingly alive and stable with her wounds all but gone, but she also had a sickly look about her. Agent Fowler reported that she had been like this since the medical staff had taken her, and since he could not describe the nature of her speedy recovery, brought her here hoping Ratchet could diagnose her. Albeit grudgingly, my old friend agreed to see what he could do.

And that is when he found the sparkbeat of a young sparkling inside of her.

It quickly became apparent that the only thing keeping her alive was the child, so to ensure both her and the sparkling's safety, Ratchet immediately claimed her as his full time patient. Delving into texts and online works detailing human anatomy and sickness, Ratchet soon became an expert of the human body, especially that of maternity and pediatric practices. The excitement over the child made him happier than he had been in a long time, especially since we had moved to Earth.

Even before the war, sparkling births were not overly common. Unlike human pregnancies, a sparkling is formed by a conscious decision between the two who wish to share their sparks in order to create life. When the war came, sparkling births were almost unheard of. Now, I had a child on the way, and everyone on the team shared Ratchet's excitement.

Bulkhead took the idea of a new addition as a cue to continue his old trade from before the war. He began refurbishing one of the silo's bunkrooms into a nursery. After tearing down the wall and building a door that could fit the Autobots, Bulk began removing all the old bunks and furniture to be replaced with newer pieces. He then even set about building the new furniture pieces even though they were on a much smaller scale than he was used. The end result was amazing, showing off how skilled the Wrecker was.

Cliffjumper and Bumblebee were ecstatic, spending most of the time arguing over what they planned on doing with the sparkling when it was old enough. Most of the time though, they argued over who would be the better big brother. Also, since I had become increasingly reluctant to leave the base, Bulkhead's care and time spent on building and child proofing certain areas, and Ratchet and Arcee's inability to leave the base, they stepped up and took on most of the field runs and scouting missions.

Arcee surprised us the most. She had always been a bit gruff and sarcastic around the edges whereas the mother to be had always been the curious, quiet type. Everyone was shocked when the two became almost inseparable, Arcee helping with anything the sick and bedridden woman needed. Soon, when the young woman insisted that she have her child here at the base, without a human doctor, Arcee volunteered to do most of the hands on work required in labor, seeing as how she was of a more suitable size rather than Ratchet. Our medic then took to training Arcee as finely as he could to prevent any unnecessary complications.

Fowler began to spend most of his time at the base. He obviously was still not comfortable around us, but his dedication to his partner had proved stronger than his unease. Sometimes, he went as far as to sit by her bedside at night towards the end of the pregnancy when she began to have trouble sleeping.

One thing was certain during her pregnancy ,though: our human friend was living on borrowed time. Once the baby had been born, we did not expect her to live much longer.

She seemed to know this and simply ignored the fact. She continued on as her normal, serene self but with a new passion in her I had not seen before. Everything she wanted to talk about, ask about, and I believe think about was her unborn child. One night, she had confessed to me that she had always wanted a child and in the most sincere fashion told me that she could possibly have been luckier that the child would have me for a father.

My spark swelled at her words, for up to that point, I had doubted that I would have been a good father.

When Ratchet declared that the sparkling would be a girl, we had all been elated, especially her. She had been guessing that the child would have been a girl from the start, but we had wanted to check to be sure. Looking back, she had been right about a lot of her predictions about her baby girl.

"She'll be artistic. She will draw to express herself and to find tranquility. But at the same time, she will be great at science and have a passion to learn. Ratchet is going to like her."

"A music fanatic. You won't be able to keep the radio off with her in the room."

"She's gonna be a stubborn one. You and her are definitely going to butt heads a few times, Optimus."

"Her eyes will be utterly unique. And somehow I have a feeling she will one way or another end up with colored highlights. Hopefully red."

"Loyal to a fault. Gain her trust, and she will never be the one to break it."

One day, when the sparkling began to kick, she said, "She's going to be emotional. Passionate." Then, bending a bit to speak to her swollen stomach, she said to her unborn child, "Don't lose yourself to that passion, my baby girl. Remember what's right in front of you. Don't let your emotions blind you, because that could destroy you."

When she went into labor, the experience had been a bit surreal. I kneeled to one side of her medical gurney, and Fowler offered his hand to her at the other. Arcee took the position to help the child, and Ratchet supervised. Despite our pleas, she wanted a natural birth. "My mother had me naturally, I want the same for my child."

Though I had never seen a Cybertronian birth before, I knew them to be nowhere near as messy and painful for the carrier. The three waiting brothers watched from off to the side, and if the situation had not been so severe, their expressions might have been deemed comical. Especially after Bulkhead fainted during the labor.

Eventually, the child had been born. Arcee carefully wiped off the blood and handed the child to her mother. When she held her child, I finally saw the little girl's face, and I was completely and utterly at a loss of what to say or do.

Unlike most children, she did not scream or cry; she merely looked around the room with a face full of wonder. "She's not screaming," Ratchet fretted. "Human children are supposed to scream after birth…"

"She's fine," Arcee responded. "She isn't a normal kid, after all."

The small child then looked up at her mother, a small smile playing on both their faces. Then, the child looked at me and squealed in delight. She stuck her small arm out towards me, and I was at a loss of what to do. Looking her in the eyes for the first time, I saw beautiful silver iris that seemed to shimmer in the light. The child continued to smile at me and held her arm out, waiting for me to move.

My friend looked at me and said, "She wants you, her daddy." With a proud smile towards the bundle in her arms, she continued, "I told you she would be smart."

Looking at the girl, who patiently watched me, I suddenly felt an ache in my chest. I wanted to hold her so badly, but she was so small and frail compared to me that I knew I never could truly hold her without risking her harm. So I held out my large hand to her and touched my finger to her hand. She grasped my finger as best she could, looking down at my large hand in wonder and amazement. Then, she looked at me and began to laugh in a musical way that caught my heart even more than I thought she possibly could.

I knew in that instant my life would belong to that little girl.

The new mother suddenly looked puzzled as she watched the exchange. "We never talked about a name."

Cliffjumper spoke up. "Wait, you humans think up names ahead of time?"

Ratchet, clarifying to the confused woman and her military partner who still stared wide-eyed at the little bundle, said, "Cybertronians name their children after they are born. The name is supposed to be inspired by the first impressions of the child. Our names are the English translations of our Cybertronian names."

The mother thought for a moment, and I began to notice that she looked considerably paler. Then, looking at me, she said, "I want her name to be Cybertronian, not an English translation. Though she may live on this planet, I want her to always be able to carry a piece of her Cybertronian history with her."

I look at the child who stared at me. Though her skin was an ivory tone and her eyes noticeably unique, I knew she would grow to look like her mother. Thinking of the best name I could, I offered, "Everon. I wish to name her Everon."

Everyone seemed to agree with the name, and the mother smiled warmly to me. "It's perfect. Her name will be Everon Prime…" By this point, we could see her fading. The child looked to her and then back to me for a second. She then released my finger and began to play quietly with her dying mother's hair. "Bill," the young women asked. "She needs a human godfather. Will you?..."

With a nervous gulp, he replied, "I will protect her with every fiber of my being."

Smiling again, the woman turned to her daughter who sat quietly in her arms and faintly began to sing a song I had heard her listen to many times before.

"_With arms wide open, under the sunlight,_

_Welcome to this place, I'll show you everything._

_With arms wide open, now everything has changed,_

_I'll show you love, I'll show you everything._

_With arms wide open…"_

And with that, she slipped from this world as she left behind only a young sleeping daughter in her arms.

Everon's early years had been an adjustment for all of us. Arcee had to take on most of the child's raising since she was the only one small enough to hold the child besides Fowler who, though he loved the child, was obviously not very skilled at the job of dealing with a child. He did however act as an excellent godfather by means of taking Everon out into the human world.

Her mother's predications had been accurate. Everon loved to draw, and it became apparent from a young age that she was quite skilled. Unfortunately, she had a habit of drawing anywhere she could, starting with crayon drawings on the base's walls as a toddler to pencil sketches in Fowler's top level government files as a child.

Once, when she was three, Cliffjumper gave her a paint and marker set, which she then used on Ratchet while in shut down. We had believed her to have barricaded herself in her room in order to 'work,' but she had had a spring of inspiration. Everyone could see Ratchet's failing attempts of keeping his cool in front of the young girl who proceeded to cry at the idea of upsetting him. He immediately lost any anger towards her and told her how beautiful the designs were.

He did smack Cliffjumper though upside the head when he suggested that we hang Ratchet on display on the fridge.

My daughter also turned out to be extremely intelligent. She could fluently speak and read English by the age of two, and Ratchet began teaching her Cybertronian before she turned three. And, unfortunately, she figured out how to work the ground bridge by the age of four, which led to her and Bulkhead's Guatemala incident.

When it came time to enroll her in human school, Ratchet adamantly argued against it, saying that she would be wasting her time learning what she already knows when she could be further advancing her skills at base under his tutelage. We had all known that Ratchet had enjoyed teaching her, but we had not realized that he had become that interested in her studies. But, Everon was resolute in wanting to experience human school and spend time with her close friend, Jack.

The most terrifying day in my time as her father would have to be the day she was taken from me.

The day had started out quiet and simple, my seven year old daughter practicing some Cybertronian equations Ratchet had given her as she laid sprawled out on one of the platforms while the rest of us went about our usual habits. Then, Arcee and Cliffjumper radioed from the field asking for back up. Megatron had arrived at the mine they were scouting and spotted them, and now they were taking heavy fire.

Quickly, I shouted for the others to roll out. As I run to the door, I hear Everon yell for me, and I look to see her holding her hand out over the railing for me, but I just continue into the ground bridge.

I didn't tell her goodbye.

The battle had been fierce, and somehow I lost track of Megatron and ended up fighting Starscream. After punching the second in command, I hear a voice scream from behind me, and I felt the energon in my veins turn cold.

"Daddy!"

I spin to see my daughter stare at me, wide eyed and terrified as the tall figure of Megatron crouched in front of her. The figure turned his eyes from her to where her eyes landed, me, and confusion crossed his face followed by sudden realization. "She is the daughter of the woman in the mines! She is the result of the spark shock. Your daughter…" He then turned to look at her, truly stunned for the first time since I had known him. "…And mine."

Without answering, I lunge in their direction, running as fast as I can. Megatron immediately scooped up the shocked still Everon, and after running and jumping into the air, he shifted to his plane form and took off into the sky.

Taking her with him.

The grief nearly destroyed the team. Arcee and Cliffjumper blamed themselves for getting caught, causing the team to have to come to their aide. The others thought that they should have seen her follow through the ground bridge, especially Ratchet.

I however, felt like I had lost a part of who I was that day.

Whenever we gave the news to Agent Fowler, he yelled and yelled until all he could do was sit there and cry. None of us could blame him. Everon was his family too, and none of us were sure if we would ever see her again.

We then lost ourselves to our work, seeking out any and all Decepticon activities with a stronger fervor than ever before. But, as days turned to weeks, to months, and, eventually, years, our hope of ever seeing our girl again faded. Though I have never been known as an overly expressive person, I became more withdrawn and hardly spoke to anyone.

One day, I was out on patrol when I received a large energon spike on my scanners. After sending an alert to the others, I turn off rode and continue to the source. Up ahead was a cliff face with tall rocks lining the edge, giving me the perfect cover. As I look around the rocks down the cliff face, though, I can see that I was going to need that backup. The area was heavily guarded by Vehicon troopers, and the extensive amount of miners and equipment proved that this was one of the Decepticons more extensive operations.

"Optimus to base. I require backup. The Decepticons have the area heavily guarded, and there appears to be a large supply of energon."

"_This is Ratchet. I'm sending the others through. They should be at your position momentarily."_

"Tell them to make haste. I believe that this location might have one of Megatron's senior officers." They knew what that means. The grunts were useless to try and get information from, but the officers knew more. They might know of what happened to Everon. Unfortunately, they were also harder to find and even harder to catch.

Soon, Arcee, Cliffjumper, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were at my side pressed against the rock. "Any sign of a senior officer yet?" Arcee asks anxiously.

"Negative. The moment we see one available though, we go in fast and strong."

Cliffjumper offered his idea we watched and waited. "Bulkhead and I can grab the officer while the rest of you provide cover. If need be, Bulk can sit on him."

"If it's Breakdown again, I don't think sitting on him will be an option, " Bulk responds.

**Well, I guess it's our lucky day!** Bumblebee bleeped excitedly. As everyone glanced over the rocks, we could see the profile of a Decepticon officer with a familiar red paint job. **They sent their resident mad scientist, Knock Out.**

Megatron's medic could be seen standing near the entrance to the mine down in the canyon, holding some device in his hand. He seemed to be explaining the readings to someone as he gestured to the device while talking animatedly. The only odd thing?

There was no one near him to talk to.

"Uh, is it just me, or does the doctor seem to not be all there?" Bulkhead asked.

Cliffjumper chimed in, "Ratchet may mumble to himself, but he looks like he is actually _talking_ to someone…" No sooner had he said that that we received our answer. Knock Out turned from his profile view to where he was facing us, and we could see his other shoulder.

Perched between his high shoulder cover and his head was a young girl. Her knees were drawn to her chest, and her arms clasped tightly around her legs as she craned her neck inquisitively to see what Knock Out was explaining to her about the readings. She had a familiar shade of auburn brown hair, but in the light, reddish streaks could be seen in her hair from where it was pulled back in a loose bun. Her clothes consisted of military looking combat boots, jeans, a t-shirt, and a hooded jacket.

The instant I saw her, I knew who she was. Three years could not make me forget her. "Everon…" Watching the two interact, I realize that they are very at ease with each other. She would occasionally spit out a question, and he would casually and patiently answer her. At one point she grinned and commented to him, to which he rolled his eyes and shook his head while she giggled like a fiend. He did however smile at her while she laughed.

But as she glanced at her surroundings, her smile fell from her face as she stared directly at our position. Directly at us. Seeing her sudden mood swing, Knock Out confusedly looked in the same direction as her, and his face grew shocked and then fierce in a matter of seconds. "Autobots, roll out!"

We jumped down the cliff side and immediately launched into the fight. All during the fight, I didn't take my eyes off of my daughter for more than a second when fighting off various troopers. All while, Knock Out shouted orders and attempted to speak over the comm link to what I believed to be the Decepticon command, she stood on his shoulder, flailing her arms and pleading with Knock Out who for the most part ignored her. The one time he did snap at her to be quiet, she huffed and kicked him in the side of the head, which earned a decent sounding clunk and a look of irritation from the medic.

I had finally found an opening through the thick of the fighting and sprinted towards them. Knock Out saw me and began to resume yelling into the comm link again while running away. "Open that bridge now or we might lose her! I will not lose my little sister to those Autobot scum!"

She looked at me from over Knock Out's shoulder. "Daddy!" She held out her hand towards me, not in a motion to reach for me, though. She had a look in her eyes, one that said everything will be okay.

As the bridge opened before them, I thrust my hand out towards her, screaming, "No!" But, she merely offered a sad smile as Knock Out entered the bridge, which immediately closed behind him.

Though some might see this day as a failure, we took it as a revitalization of our efforts. She was alive: the Decepticons didn't seem to have any plans of hurting her. And, based on her reaction when we ran into her and Knock Out, she may be assimilating with the ship, but she still missed us.

I would like to say that we rescued her, but in all honesty, she merely called us one day on the base's landline from a cell phone she had pick pocketed in some remote town in Kansas. We immediately ground bridged to her who was waiting calmly in some woods outside of the remote town. She had a stolen car that had a Louisiana license plate, which she requested that we send to Florida so that the Cons would not know to search phone calls in that area and trace it to the base.

After a brief and emotional reunion, she simply tried to act like nothing happened. Any attempts to probe into what happened in her time on the ship were either vaguely answered or the subject casually changed in an expert fashion. We all decided that she needed her time and space and left it at that. But that had been three years ago, and all we learned of what happened was through her occasional slip of the tongue.

We learned that over her time on the Decepticon ship, she had become highly knowledgeable and adept in Cybertronian medicine and science. Soon, after expressing her desire to continue learning, she became an equivalent of Ratchet's apprentice. Ratchet confided in me that her understanding of Cybertronian science and math were well beyond anything he had seen for someone learning at such a young age. He confirmed our beliefs that she had a semi-photographic memory.

Another change in her was her habits. She had become more interested in her clothes and hair which now had bright red highlights she insisted were natural, not obsessively, but more than the little girl who would where any of the clothes she had in her closet and had to be reminded to brush her hair repeatedly. When she had come back to us, she had come with new piercings to her ears: three on the left lobe, two on the right, and one in the top cartilage on the right. She wore jewelry more often and had even started to where makeup. The only constant was her ever-present dog tags, which Agent Fowler had given her when she was six.

The last major change was her attitude. She had always been a happy girl, rarely sad or upset, but now she seemed more rebellious, more likely to question requests of her. Sometimes, she seemed like she just wanted to argue. Fowler assured me that it was just a phase all kids went through, but she still had yet to out grow this phase.

Now, as I look at the girl sitting next to the edge, one leg tucked neatly under her while the other precariously hung over the edge, I can't help but feel that I had failed her. She deserves so much more than this turbulent life that she has known. She should have a normal human life, not be pulled into the center of this war. Yet, here she sits, strong as ever, just sketching away in her notebook, completely unaware that I am behind her.

As she sketched, she began to sing a familiar tune.

""_With arms wide open, under the sunlight,_

_Welcome to this place, I'll show you everything._

_With arms wide open, now everything has changed,_

_I'll show you love, I'll show you everything._

_With arms wide open…"_

I approached and kneeled next her, and she finally broke the trance her sketch had over her. Looking up at me, she faintly smiled and sheepishly glanced back down at her sketch. "I… started this a few days ago… Never got a chance to finish it so I decided to try."

I look at her sketch, and I realize why she came up here to be alone to finish it. "Cliffjumper would have been ecstatic over this."

"He knew I was drawing it, heck, I was working on it up until we got that energy signature. I just wish I had had the nerve to show it to him…" We were both silent for a moment, then she faintly asked. "The loss… does it ever get any easier?"

"No. And you don't want it to. The minute you stop caring for a life lost is the moment when you have lost yourself. I never wish for you to lose yourself, Everon. You are too precious to so many."

She is quiet again. "I love you. I loved… love Cliff. I love everyone on this team. But… I also love the Decepticons. I'm an Autobot at heart, Dad, but they still cared for me. Treated me well. He may not have been perfect, but he was a good father to me. I just wish he had chose me over his hunger for power…"

"As do I, my daughter. As do I." I don't push any further, because I know that she is still not ready to tell me the details of her time with the Decepticons. I may not get the answers today, though, but today I confirm that she will be alright. As we watch the final glimpses of the setting sun, I realize that I haven't truly failed her, not yet.

And I don't intend to do so anytime soon.

* * *

**And there you go! A more detailed look into the life of Everon Prime via her father, Optimus. I do intend to go more in depth about Everon's life on the Con's warship as the story progresses. If my story does well, I might even write a little spin off talking about it. Not sure yet. **

**Anyway, please review!**


	8. Chapter 7

"Why so glum, Optimus?" Ratchet asked my father. "This planet, _all_ planets, are finally free from Megatron's tyranny."

I was currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of a nearby platform to the two conversing Autobots. My hair was pulled back into a loose and messy bun while my computer played some various songs behind me. Spread before me were various microchips and cell phone pieces, along with the phones of Jack, Miko, and Rafael. In order for them to be able to visit more, and to be able to contact the Bots, I was modifying their data chips as well as making them virtually untraceable except when they make calls or send texts outside of the base.

While pretending to be utterly engrossed in my work, I had casually started to eavesdrop on my dad's and my mentor's conversation out of curiosity. "I do not disagree, Ratchet. It's just… a small part of me hoped to change Megatron's mind, not extinguish his spark…"

"Optimus! His vileness was not slain by your hand, but by his own twisted arrogance!... I'm sorry. I know the two of you had quite a history."

"But the Megatron I once fought beside perished eons ago: the day he chose to become a Decepticon. Mostly, I just wished for him to change, if not for our lost friendship, then for his daughter."

"She has been and always will be more your daughter than his. She just has an extremely open and forgiving heart. I just hope it doesn't get the better of her."

Changing the topic, my dad states, "The Decepticons may be in disarray, but they aren't without leadership. And while Starscream is no Megatron, he is far from predictable."

Just then, a loud explosion rocked the base, and I drop the delicate microchip I was working on and jump up onto my feet. "What the frag!? That chip took me two hours to program!"

"Decepticons!" Ratchet yells as he and Optimus look toward the smoke and sparks on the other side of the base. "We're under attack!"

"Not exactly," I grind out through gritted teeth, arms stiff at my sides as I march towards the sound of the explosion. As the smoke cleared, I snap, "What part of, 'the explosion is going to be too big if you use that much' did you not get?"

As Raf and Bumblebee wave away the smoke, Raf explains to Ratchet while coughing, "It's not an attack, Ratchet. It's my volcano." Sitting on a makeshift table of crates is a model volcano that is nearly Raf's size, which then proceeded to melt down. "Or was…"

After Raf looks sheepishly towards me and starts to apologize for not taking my advice, I sigh and hold up my hand. With a light smile, I say, "Just remember to heed others' advice while you rebuild that thing."

Ratchet looks like he is about to speak when Miko begins to talk from over to the side. "Hold still, Bulkhead! Jupiter needs its red spot." Miko is surrounded by large cans of paint while Bulkhead holds up a model solar system for her. As she goes to paint the red spot, though, splatters of paint fall to the ground. "Whoopsie!"

"What, in the allspark, is going on in here?" Ratchet asks, clearly getting frustrated.

Jack speaks up from where Arcee and he are standing next to a bike over to the side. "Our projects are due tomorrow."

Arcee then proceeds to pick up a muffler and hand it to him. "Maybe it needs one of these doohickeys?"

"You're a motorcycle, Arcee. Shouldn't you know how to build a motorcycle engine?"

"You're a human, Jack. Can you build me a small intestine?"

"Well," Ratchet begins, "You can't work on these projects in here! You're… making a mess!"

"But," Raf says, "the science fair is a big part of our grade."

"I built mine in here last night. You didn't say anything to me then," I challenged.

"Wait," Miko said. "You're done? You are such an overachiever."

"All I did was attach my project to something I've been working on for a while now. I rebuilt the engine of an old motorcycle to make it solar powered. I then designed ultra thin solar panels to go over body of the motorcycle that transmit the energy to the engine: you can't even see that they're there. Two hours in the sun, and you have twenty-four hours of riding. And, the engine still purrs like a kitten and growls like a lion."

"Whoa," Miko responded. "Can I have it?"

Jack, who is still fiddling with his bike, responds, "Miko, this is her backup ride for whenever the Bots are busy. They can't always drive her everywhere."

"Yeah, and also, I'd like to have the ability to actually be the one to _drive_ every once in a while."

"Anyway," Miko continues, "if Bulkhead doesn't help me finish this model of our solar system…"

"Oh!" Ratchet interrupts. "And what does Bulkhead know of your solar systems, or Bumblebee of your volcanoes, or…"

Jack finished for him. "Or Arcee of our motorcycles?"

"Precisely! We're not Earthlings, and they're not scientists."

My dad decided to cut in at this point. "But the Autobots are their guardians, Ratchet. Would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their school work?"

"Well… maybe our young friends should learn more of Cybertron."

I just roll my eyes at my mentor's stubbornness and turn back to my work, cranking up the volume on my computer as a Nickelback song started.

* * *

As I rebuilt and programmed the microchip that I had previously dropped, I could here Bumblebee bleeping away to Raf. They were animatedly discussing how Bee was still in training to make warrior class rather than scout as Raf rebuilt his Paper Mache volcano.

"So how do you make warrior class?"

**I have to earn the promotion through my work in the field.**

"But I've seen you in action," Raf replied. "You're awesome!"

**Thanks!**

My dad stepped forward and placed a hand on Bee's shoulder. "I second your opinion, Raf, but Autobot life cycles are much longer than those of humans. And though it may be hard to believe our young scout still has much to experience."

"So," Raf continued, "You all will out live us?"

"Sadly, yes," my dad told the boy.

"What about Everon? She is going to live longer than us too?"

My dad turned quiet and looked away. Bumblebee looked at him, then to me as I pretended not to be listening, and then to Raf. **Everon… is expected to have a normal human life cycle. Unless the Cybertronian aspects of her DNA kick in… she will not outlive us.**

My short life span has always been a touchy subject. Ratchet had been on and off working to see if there was any chance of my DNA had changed but so far, no luck. I decided to try and change the subject. Shutting off the music on my computer, I announce, "I'm done!" Hopping up off the ground, phones in hand, I start heading towards the group only to be practically tackled by Miko.

"Finally! So I can use my phone here now, right?"

With a light chuckle, I respond, "Yes, you should get signal pretty much anywhere now. And you shouldn't be traced unless they are specifically looking for you, and even then you would have to send a text or make a call."

Jack and Raf had made it to us by then, and I handed them their respective phones. "Gee, thanks Ever!" Raf said excitedly.

"Yeah, thanks," Jack said. "To bad you can't use this for your project. I know a lot of people would love to have unlimited cell service, especially here in Jasper."

"I'd rather not explain why I chose to make my phone tracking proof."

Beeping came from the scanners as Ratchet declared, "Exposed energon. And it's on the move."

Bulkhead stepped forward. "And since we ain't moving it, guess who must be."

"Decepticons," Arcee proclaimed.

Miko piped up from the platform we were standing on. "Without Megatron?"

"Unfortunately, Megatron's legacy will live on," explained Dad, "as others rise to take his place. Autobots, you have projects to complete." Looking at our medic, he continues, "Ratchet, I may require aid."

Ratchet then looks from my dad to the others, and says, "The science fair is a big part of their grade… perhaps I'm better suited to stay behind and… advise."

"Uh-oh."

Jack looks at me, puzzled. "What's wrong, Ev?"

"Hide your projects," I whisper quickly. "Now. "

"Why…"

"Let's just say Ratchet can go a little… overboard when 'helping'."

"Very well," my dad states, unaware of the over-controlling nightmare he has released upon everyone. "Bumblebee! Let us see about this energon in transit."

"I'm done with my project!" I announce to my dad. "Can I come? Please?"

"My daughter, that would not be a wise decision. We know that the Decepticons will be at this location and…"

"C'mon, please? I promise to behave! I will do whatever you tell me, and I won't approach them. I really need to start partaking in these field missions. Please?"

He sighed, but nodded his head in submission. "Yes!" I yell. As I go to run down the platform stairs, I skid to a stop. Turning around and running back to Jack, I grab him by the arm and tell him, "If Ratchet tries to _touch_ my project, tell him that if he does anything to my bike, I will peel his paint." With a sickly sweet smile, I add, "And even though I call you my brother, I will strangle you if you let him near it."

* * *

Stepping out of the ground bridge, we were met by a desert canyon in the mid day sun. I sat perched on my dad's shoulder, while Bumblebee walked on his left. **Just because she is here doesn't mean the Decepticons aren't going to attack us, right?**

"No, Bumblebee, it does not," my dad responded to the scout. "Hold your position, and await my command. Everon, you wait…"

"Seriously? You're ditching me already? And you're making Bumblebee stay behind too? Just let us come, Dad. He knows how to handle these situations, and I have already promised to behave."

My dad sighed and waved Bumblebee to follow. "You also promised to listen to my commands…" Dad mumbled.

With a smirk, I responded, "I never said I wouldn't try to argue them."

As we approach the area where the signal originated, we hear voices ahead, and duck behind some rocks in order to watch and listen. Starscream and Soundwave could be standing in front of a large chamber that appeared to be opening.

"Awaken, warrior," Starscream announces. "Arise and serve your new master!" As the doors open, a large Cybertronian lumbers out. His colorings are a pale green and red, and his eyes held a reddish orange glow.

"Whoa," I whisper from my spot on my dad's shoulder. "He's bigger than _you_."

After pounding his fists together above his head, the Cybertronian declares, "Skyquake serves only one master."

"Excellent," Starscream continues with his usual arrogance. "Your loyalty and devotion will set a fine examples for the troops. No need to be timid, Skyquake. You may bow."

"You fail to grasp my meaning. I am here on a mission, assigned to me by one master, Megatron."

"Yes…him. Sadly, Megatron is… no longer with us."

Shock filled the warrior's eyes. "Impossible."

Frustrated, Starscream said, "Why is this so difficult for everyone to accept…"

Seeing an opportunity, I asked, "Dad, if you had a way to possibly get Skyquake to switch sides, or at the very least, not side with the Decepticons under Starscream's command, would you take it."

"Of course."

"And you trust me, right?"

My dad eyed me warily. "Yes…"

I nod my head and stayed silent for a moment. Then, I stated quickly, "Love you, gotta go, I'll be careful, and don't move!" Jumping from his shoulder and on the tock before jumping into a rolling crouch on the ground, I take off towards the conversing Decepticons before he has time to process what just happened. I just hope he trusts me long enough to stay back and keep quiet.

Starscream had resumed talking as I approached. "Skyquake, I located you. I awakened you, thus I, Lord Starscream, am now your master!" Skyquake leaned forward and began to growl in the slightly unnerved Starscream's face when I finally stood close enough for me to speak.

"Tsk, tsk. Seriously, Screamer, you need to work on your people skills." Both of the Decepticons immediately forgot their quarrels with each other and turned to look at me.

"Who are you, little one?' the warrior, Skyquake, asked. I was shocked for a moment by his tone. Where I had been suspecting him to be rude or uncaring of my presence, he sounded curious and even caring.

"No one important," Starscream snapped. Neither of us had ever gotten along: honestly, I think he felt threatened by me, which I couldn't blame him for. I was technically the true heir as leader of the Decepticons, not that I would claim it.

"Really, Starscream? Is that all you think of me?" I responded sarcastically. "And here I thought we were such good _friends_." Turning from him, I look at Skyquake and give a kneeling bow. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Everon, but among the Decepticons I am known as Shadow Tronus, the daughter of our late Lord Megatron."

Shock befalls Skyquake's face as he looks to Soundwave and Starscream for conformation. "Is this true?" Starscream is to busy mumbling to himself, but Soundwave gives the warrior a sharp nod. Looking back to me, Skyquake quickly kneels and says, "Then it is I who should be kneeling to you, my princess. It is an honor." I was a little surprised that he didn't ask how I could be Megatron's daughter, but I summed it up to his attempt at not being disrespectful.

Starscream snaps, "You should know that the little… princess you are bowing to is a traitor! She sides with the Autobot scum."

Glaring daggers at Starscream, I say, "It is Cybertronians like you, Starscream, that make the Decepticon cause such a corrupted one. Your kind twists anything you have to your own benefit as you claw for power. And, need I remind you, that you were the final blow that made me return to the Autobots after living on the ship for all those years?"

"Why you…"

"Enough!" Skyquake yells, as he moves to stand between Starscream and I. "How dare you treat your princess this way? Whether or not she switched sides, you have no right to talk down to her. She is your superior. No wonder she left: you twisted what she knew of our cause."

He then knelt to me, but before I could speak, he scooped me in his hand. Not good. "I shall take the princess back to the ship. The crew should be allowed to vote on whether or not to let her take your place. Even if she is sympathetic to the Autobots, we can show her how our cause is not anything like how you made it appear. We shall win her over."

"No you won't!" Starscream yelled. "While part of Megatron's spark was used to save that… girl's dying mother, another spark was used as well! The spark of Optimus Prime! She will never turn from him! He polluted her mind the day she was born."

Looking down at me where I precariously sat in his hand, Skyquake asked, "Is this true?"

I had one last shot at this. "I am sixteen Earth years old, soon to be seventeen. Up until I was seven, I lived with the Autobots, but Megatron found me and took me then and kept me until I ran away when I was twelve.

"I'm not going to pretend like I don't side with the Autobots. But, I have also found family among the Decepticons. When it comes down to choosing sides, though, I believe in my spark that the Autobots are the truly honorable ones. Many of the Decepticons might have started out with good intentions, but their true cause has been lost over the years. Now that Starscream is in command, I fear for how worse the cause will turn.

"I know that the chance for you to join the Autobots is near impossible, but please consider it. If not that, than at least don't align yourself with the Decepticons under Starscream. You are a warrior of honor, and I fear that their concept of honor is slowly being lost."

Skyquake looked stunned and actually seemed to consider my words. "I… I… I will… not abandon my brothers. I'm sorry, Shadow, truly, but in time you will see that the Decepticons are not what you think…"

"Skyquake!" I guess my dad decided that he couldn't wait any longer. "It has been a while."

"Optimus Prime," Skyquake declared as he turned towards my dad and shoved Starscream away. "I haven't seen you since the battle of Technar. Megatron ordered me to annihilate you."

"That was a long time ago."

As my dad stepped forward, Skyquake cradled me close to his spark chamber, obviously having no intentions of letting me go. "That may be, Prime. But my orders still stand."

Pleading to both Starscream and Skyquake, my dad continues, "Is this ancient war still worth fighting? The comrades lost, and worlds destroyed? And now we risk destroying the world that your princess, my daughter, calls home." Looking at the new leader of the Decepticons, he says, "If you want to be a true leader, Starscream, then stray from Megatron's path and lead the Decepticons toward peace."

"I would be willing to consider a truce, if you would be willing to bow, before me, Optimus Prime."

I buried my face in my hands and sigh at Starscream's idiotic arrogance.

"Again?!" Skyquake yells as his attention snaps toward Starscream. After quickly dropping me on his shoulder, he yells, "Bow to this!" and power punches Starscream into the canyon wall.

"That," I say from my spot on Skyquake's shoulder, "was epic!"

After sliding to the ground, Starscream stumbles to his feet, groaning, then shifts and takes off into the air.

'Skyquake," my dad continues, "this is a new era, on another world. Side with the Autobots and help me, help your princess, end this conflict."

"I will never side with a Prime! And I will get revenge for your poisoning our princess' mind with your Autobot lies!"

With that, Skyquake quickly dropped me into his chassis before lunging into battle. "Seriously?!" I yell as I kick the walls of his chassis. As he lunged back and forth in battle, I would occasionally hear an exchange of words, but for the most part, I concentrated on not being thrown around too much.

Blaster fire could be heard clanking against Skyquake, but he didn't seem deterred in his fighting. I began to feel nauseous from all of his jumping around, and I just prayed that I could get out soon. "If you keep this up," I scream as loud as I can, "I am not responsible if I hurl in here!"

Eventually, after what feels like an eternity, I hear Skyquake yell, "So time has made you a coward, Prime?"

I was getting extremely frustrated from not knowing what was happening. He was running, from what I could tell, and after a while of running, he seemed to finally stop. "It will be a shame to crush you, bug. But it is my duty…" Then, I hear what sounds like honking. Skyquake began rapidly firing, and I braced myself.

Good thing too, since I felt Skyquake get hit, followed by a moment of flying through the air before hitting the ground. Hard.

I felt him attempt to fight again, and faintly heard my dad yell, _"Skyquake, stay down!" _With that, Skyquake was punched which sent him to the ground again.

I was utterly dizzy by that point and getting a little ticked. Faintly, I heard, _**We need to get Ev out. She is bound to be shaken up at this point.**_

"Get me out of here before I peel all of your paint!"

_**Make that pissed…**_

Then, I hear my dad yell, _"Fowler?"_ A humming sound could be heard coming from Skyquake. Something told me that this is not good. _"Agent Fowler, fall back!"_

Before I knew it, Skyquake was shifting into a vehicle form, Fowler's personal plane to be exact, and taking off into the sky. _This is not good_, I think as I realize that I was now strapped tightly into the cockpit.

At least I could see now…

Once in the sky, Skyquake looped next to Fowler's plane and I could see the dumbfounded look on Fowler's face turn to shock when he noticed me sheepishly waving from the pilot's seat. Skyquake headed back towards the Autobots' position. "Air superiority achieved!" At first, I was enjoying the view, at least up until my ride began firing at my dad and Bumblebee. That kind of killed the moment.

I watched as they shifted into their vehicle modes and attempted to drive out of the firing range. I could only watch helplessly due to the fact that Skyquake had locked all the system controls. Soon, though, I could hear shots being fired from behind us. Over the radio, Fowler's voice came on, saying, _"Stealing plans for a classified military aircraft and my goddaughter will not be _not_ be tolerated on my watch!"_

Skyquake expertly switched positions, then fired several heat seekers at Fowler's plane. I watched as he flew off through the canyon and just as he came to a wall, he pulled up. All the heat seekers were destroyed, and Fowler declared over the radio, _"I still got it."_

After the brief distraction with Fowler, I turn back to watch Skyquake fire at my fellow Autobots. I look just in time to see a heat seeker graze the rear of my dad's vehicle form and cause him to shift back to his bipedal form. Skyquake continues his pursuit, however, chasing and firing after the scout in his Camaro form.

"Skyquake, please stop this!" I beg when we lose sight of Bumblebee. "It doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to fight."

"I am sorry, my princess. I must."

Just then, a loud thunk could be heard from the wing of Skyquake's vehicle form, and I look over to see Bumblebee clinging to Skyquake while in his bipedal form. "You are crazy, you know that, Bee?"

Skyquake scraped Bumblebee along the canyon wall in an attempt to detach him before taking off high into the sky. Bee nearly fell off several times, but somehow managed to get above the cockpit. After ripping out several wires and damaging Skyquake greatly, Bumblebee waited until the plane was low enough that the pressure change wouldn't hurt while Fowler pulled along side the crashing Skyquake.

Once we were close to the ground, Bee pulled off the glass covering of the cockpit and, rather than fiddle with the seatbelts, ripped out the entire pilot's seat with me still attached before jumping onto Fowler's plane.

We then watched as Skyquake crashed to the Earth within the canyon.

Bumblebee jumped off Fowler's plane onto the canyon's edge before attempting to free me. Once out of the pilot's seat, I ran up to the edge to look down at the fallen warrior below. Bee scooped me up and carried me down to the crash site, and we approached just as my dad had reached it.

After retracting his face shield, my dad spoke sadly. "Had Skyquake chosen to stray from his master's path, we might not be burying him today."

"We are burying him, right?" I ask as I stare at the fallen soldier. "He deserves an honorable burial."

**Of course we will, Ev.** With that, we set to the quiet task of covering him rocks, creating the best burial we could. I numbly spoke a few words before I began to tear up. He died fighting for a cause, which had long since been lost. It was a great loss to lose such an honorable soldier, especially one who I had never truly gotten a chance to know.

* * *

The next day, I was pulling back into base, riding my new bike back from the science fair earlier that day. The gorgeous black paint job with the occasional red or blue detailing had gotten a lot of attention. People could hardly believe, though, that the paint was covered in miniaturized solar panels, or that they actually worked effectively. I was extremely proud of the end result of my bike. And I was happy that Jack had managed to keep Ratchet away, though he did say that he had to give him a few warnings.

Jack followed right behind me on Arcee, and Bulkhead followed carrying Raf and Miko. Bumblebee had been getting a full system check today since I had mine last night. No real injuries for anyone, though my old bruises were certainly sore.

"Ah ha!" Ratchet declared as we pulled to a stop. I began to pull off my full-face helmet and fix my hair in my bike's mirror as the others got out of their respective vehicles. "There you all are! Well? How were mine, I mean, our projects received?"

"Well…" Raf began.

I stepped up to explain. "Well, Miko's model of Cybertron confused people seeing as how no one knew what Cybertron was. Jack's… bike drove off by itself and took an hour to catch. I'm surprised that no one was hurt by it. As for Raf's volcano… let's just say Fowler is going to have to use a lot of pull to explain why there is a huge hole blasted into the roof of our school."

"Well," Ratchet scoffed. "On our planet, you would have been awarded the highest honors!"

**They should have listened to Ev,** Bumblebee told my dad.

"Indeed, Bumblebee. It would have been wise for our human friends to have strayed from Ratchet's path."

"If it makes a difference," Jack added. "Everon got first place. And she also got about fifty offers to buy her bike."

I possessively hug my bike from where I still sit on it. "My bike. I built it. I keep it. And I'm not building any replicas."

Ratchet immediately cheered from hearing this. "Well, of course Everon would do well. She is _my_ student after all."

I merely sigh and walk away.


	9. Chapter 8

"I told you," Bulkhead said as he grabbed one of the diagnostic cables attached to his chest and pulled it off, "we're fine." He then began to stand up as Ratchet attempted to get him to sit back down.

"The only way to be certain you're fine, Bulkhead," Ratchet told him for the fifth time as he pushed Bulk back down to sit, "is to endure standard defrosting procedure! You know prolonged exposure to subzero conditions can cause permanent system damage!"

"You just want an excuse to teach Prime Jr. over there the procedures," Bulkhead responded as he pointed in my direction.

I was currently checking over Bumblebee for any of the signs Ratchet had explained for frosting in his systems. "Hey!" I say from Bumblebee's shoulder. "At least you got to go. I would have frozen solid before you're core temperature even began to drop. So, suck it up."

"Ratchet," my dad asked as he and Arcee approached us, "Have you learned anything more about our Artic find?"

I jerked my head up from the diagnostic cable attached to Bumblebee's chest I had been checking. "What Artic find?"

Ratchet looked to me and explained, "Bulkhead and Bumblebee brought back a pod that had been buried in the ice earlier this morning. You would know that if you hadn't spent so much time getting ready this morning."

As Ratchet moved to walk away to his computer screen, I stuck my tongue out at him. I know the move was a bit childish, but I happened to like my outfit. I was in my favorite loose fit tank top, which was covered in old comic book pictures of the Avengers, and blue jean shorts, and I had taken the time to braid a Catniss braid in my hair. My makeup was more natural today, though I did have on a heavy liquid black liner.

Looking back to Optimus, Ratchet continued with a shrug. "Not yet. The pod can't be opened while it's frozen solid."

Bulkhead began to stand, "Well, Bee and I need to go. Ev, you wanna come with?"

I had turned towards some data on the machine Bee was hooked up to, and I responded without really looking back at him. "Sorry, Bulk. I need to go over this."

"Oh…uh… okay." Noticing the glum sound in his voice, I look back at him to see his attempt of hiding his disappointment.

Internally, I sigh. I hadn't rode with the Autobots much as of late. Normally, if I do, it's after I had already ground bridged myself to either school or Jack's house. Now that I had my bike, I didn't even need to ground bridge. I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, but I used to ride everywhere with Cliff and riding alone with one of the Autobots just made me think of him for some reason.

Trying to make some damage control, I tell him, "I'll ride with you to Miko's and back tonight. How's that?"

Bulk immediately brightened and chuckled. "I'm gonna hold you to it, kid."

* * *

"I take it that you two are ready to go?"

"Wait," I ask as Ratchet from his shoulder goes over to the ground bridge controls. "You guys are going on another scouting mission? Bee and Bulk already got the pod."

As my dad and Arcee stand in front of the opening ground, my dad explains, "Arcee and I will go and scout for the origin of our Artic find."

While staring at his hand held device, Ratchet warns them, "Only until your sensors sound." After hitting a button or two, he looks up. "Remember, if you're core temperatures drop into the blue zone," as he said this, their respective Autobot insignias lit up and beeped, "system failures are not likely, they're eminent."

Just as Ratchet finished explaining to them, we could hear the sounds of approaching vehicles from the entrance tunnel. "Bulk and Bee are back!" I announce excitedly as I jump from Ratchet's shoulder to the nearby platform and then to the ground below.

'I really wish you wouldn't do that," Ratchet tells me. "You're bones may be organic metal, but you could still hurt yourself." I ignore him since this is an argument I had had with him plenty of times, and I stroll over to greet my human friends as they stepped out of their vehicles.

"Miss us, Doc Bot?" Miko asks Ratchet as she sticks her head out of Bulk's car door.

Ratchet groans to himself. "Shouldn't they be in school?" he asks Optimus.

"On Saturday?" Miko replies. "We have the whole weekend off. To spend with you."

I look up at my mentor and place my hand on my hip. "Did you forget that I was here?"

"Like I care if you go to school. That primitive place is a complete waste of time for you. You have no challenge there and should be here learning instead." I roll my eyes at him and ignore this mini rant as well. Yet another topic he and I have repeatedly debated.

Jack chose this moment to walk up to Arcee. "I wasn't expecting to carpool. What gives Arcee?"

"Tag team, Jack," Arcee responds. "It's my turn for exploration duty."

"Well, too bad. It's a beautiful day for a ride…" He crossed his arms and looked at her. "Would hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors…"

I walk up to Jack and throw arm over his shoulder. "Did they mention that it's Artic exploration duty?"

Jack points over to the couch and TV station we had set up on one a of the platforms and says, "Indoors where it's warm!" before walking away.

Raf however walks up to me and the two Bots who are about to leave and says excitedly, "The Artic? I've always wanted to see snow!"

"I would invite you to join, Rafael," my dad says, "but the conditions are much too extreme, even for we Autobots."

"I… understand," the young boy responds sadly. I place my hand on his shoulder and offer him a small smile. "Trust me, Raf. If there was a way for us to go safely, I would have taken you."

As the two Bots turn to head out, Optimus stops and looks back to the boy. "But, I will bring you back a snowball."

"That would be awesome!" Raf tells him, though you could tell from his tone that he is still a little disappointed that he couldn't go. With that said, the two Bots leave through the ground bridge.

"Transport complete," Ratchet announced, but as he turned to shut off the ground bridge, sparks began to fly. He jumped to cover his face, then looked at the terminal as it began to smoke. "By the Allspark."

"Oh, scrap," I say as I jog over to stand next to my mentor.

Though I can hear the two other Bots talking to our human friends, Ratchet yells, "Bulkhead, Bumblebee! Here! Now!" Looking to me as he hovered around the ground bridge terminal, he said, "I'm going to need your assistance too, Everon." He then scoops me up quickly and drops me on his shoulder as he continues to try and diagnose the problem.

The two large Bots approach as Ratchet fiddles with the ground bridge controls. Bulk says, "You can't just boss us around because the boss is out!"

Without acknowledging his comment, Ratchet tells the two, "I need some heavy lifting: the ground bridge is down!"

**That's… bad. What about Optimus and Arcee?**

"Optimus and Arcee made it through just fine," I tell them.

Ratchet continues, "It's bringing them back that concerns me." Pointing to the floor in front of the ground bridge, he says, "Now remove those panels, chop, chop!" The two look at each other, but they do as they're told and begin to remove the panels.

Lifting me from his shoulder, Ratchet held me in his palm in front of his face. "Everon, you need to listen to me very carefully. Normally, I would take apart the ground bridge in order to reach the key components, but we simply don't have time for that. So, you're going to have to do most of the checking for me.'

"Wait, so I get to work on the ground bridge? Alone? Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"We don't really have a choice," he tells me as Bulkhead and Bumblebee finish removing the panels. "Also, if I had to trust anyone with this job, it would be you, Everon. I couldn't ask for a better apprentice. Besides, I will be right here, helping you through the procedures."

I give him a small smile as he lowered me to the open panel below. "Alright," I say as I peer into the circuit box below the ground bridge. "What do you need me to do first?"

* * *

I wasn't sure how long we had been working, but I had finally been able to reroute the power cords and disconnect all circuit boards so Ratchet could pull them out to examine them. "Just…one…more…" I say to myself as I carefully stretch into the small crevice in front of me.

**Can someone explain to me how she is flexible enough to reach in there?**

"The wonders of taking martial arts classes as a kid," I tell him.

"Be careful, Everon," Ratchet says. "This one might have a residual…"

"OUCH!"

"…shock."

I slowly pull back out of the crevice, holding the wire I had just detached, and I glare at my mentor while sarcastically saying, "Thank you_ so_ much for the warning." Though I had shocked myself with my left hand, my right hand now had a nasty cut from where I had jumped and hit it against a protruding piece of metal. I sigh, then mumble, "That is going to need stitches…"

"In. Your. Face!" Jack yelled as he did some ridiculous victory dance on the platform where we had the couch and TV set up, completely unaware that I had almost electrocuted myself to death. What a _caring _best friend. I shook my head at him as Ratchet lifted me from the circuit box. Just then, the lights began to flicker, and the game Jack had been winning went offline. "Wait, what the… Great, power failure."

"Aww… It wiped out our game," Miko said sarcastically before getting up to walk away and casually throw the controller over her shoulder onto the couch.

"But…" Jack starts. "I was winning!" he yells as he follows her.

"Bummer."

Shaking my head again, I look at Ratchet as I wrap a bandage Bee had grabbed around my hand. I could stitch it later. "So, it should be safe for you to pull out those circuit boards now, right?"

"Yes… Let me see…" he says as he pulls out one of the many circuit boards in the floor of the ground bridge. He then pulls out a piece that looks like something had been chewing on it. "We most definitely have a problem."

"Way to state the obvious…" I tell him, but my comment has no sarcasm as my focus was on staring at the messed up piece of circuitry. "What could possibly do that?"

The power flickered again as Miko and Jack approached, and Bulk commented, "Or that?"

"Might be a malfunction in the main power grid…" I offered to Ratchet.

As my mentor turned his attention back to the messed up piece of metal, he says, "Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction."

"Ugh…" I respond. "I _hate _recalibrating those."

"Hey guys!" I hear Raf say, though no one seems to really be looking at him. "Look at what I found!"

I look over to Raf as my mentor yells, "We're busy… Ahh!" Raf was holding what looked to be some small metal creature that was sleeping in his arms.

All three of the Bots immediately freaked out and started yelling, Bulk and Bee even pulling out their weapons. Jack, Miko, and I immediately jump in front of Raf yelling at the three to calm down. "Are your circuits fragged?!" I yell at them.

"Scraplet! Scraplet!" Bulk yells, clearly terrified.

"What 's a scraplet?" Raf asks as he tries to jump to see over the protective barrier Jack, Miko, and I had created around him.

"Only the most dangerous vermin to ever crawl upon the face of Cybertron," Ratchet tells us. We all exchange looks of confusion at his concern.

"This?" Jack asks them incredulously while gesturing to the small sleeping scraplet. "Are you kidding me?"

"You're giant robots!" Miko says. "Scrappy her is… teeny."

Weapons still drawn, bulk stutters out, "You… have no idea the damage that teeny thing can do!"

"Awe, c'mon. You got admit, this thing is freaking cute, he seems utterly harmless," I say, completely writing off the Bots fears as overreacting. I reach for the little thing to pet it with my right hand, just as it begins to open it eyes.

Big. Mistake.

Suddenly, wide-eyed and awake, the creature opens its mouth to show rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth. Before I can react, it jumps from Raf's arms and bites my hand right where I had cut it. I shriek in pain and shock, then I fling my arm to the side and send the little devil creature flying.

After regaining its balance, though, the scraplet ran straight for the Bots who began futilely to shoot at it. Soon, it was munching its way up Bumblebee's leg, and when Bee tried to grab it, it began to munch on his arm. Bee then hit it, sending it flying several feet away, but its attempt to attack again when Raf began the scraplet with a crow bar. Repeatedly.

Jack Grabbed the crowbar before Raf could swing again, saying, "Easy there, killer."

"Okay," I say as I clutch my hand futilely to my chest, not feeling the pain due to the shock and adrenaline of the moment. "Not harmless."

"Whoa," Miko said as she guided me towards Ratchet. "I did not see that coming."

"That makes two of us."

Raf ran up to his guardian and said, "I'm sorry, Bumblebee!"

**It's okay, Raf.**

"Is he going to be okay?" Raf asks Ratchet, still panicking.

"Only a mesh wound. He'll live. I'd be more concerned about Everon's hand right now," he tells us as he turns from examining Bumblebee to me.

"I'm fine," I lie. "Doesn't even hurt."

Ratchet ignores me and looks at my hand. "That is definitely going to need stitches. Now. Miko, walk with her to get the med kit and local anesthetics…"

"I can't use those on my hand, Ratchet! I need it to be able to help…"

"You're not going to be able to use that hand much either way, Everon. This way, at least you won't have a pain shooting up your arm every time you move." I huff in frustration, but I nod my head with no further arguments and walk with Miko to grab the supplies.

"Now do you believe me?" Bulk tells us humans. "All scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal. Especially _living_ metal."

"Well," Jack says as Miko and I rejoin the group. "Bug squashed, game over. Right?"

"No," Ratchet snaps as I sit down and begin to apply the local anesthetics. "When it comes to scraplets, there is never just _one_. And I fear I know how they got in here…"

I look up from my hand as I prepare to start stitching it. "They came in the pod, didn't they?" With a nod, I sigh. "You guys go check it out to be sure. I need to finish my hand." I wince as I hit an area that wasn't all the way numb yet. "This could take a while…"

* * *

"Ratchet to Optimus, do you read me. We have a situation." The others had just come back from examining the scraplet trap when I had just finished with my hand, and Ratchet was currently trying in vain to warn Arcee and my dad of what is happening here. "Scraplets have gotten into the comm link system," he says as he pounds a fist onto the computer station. "If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce this entire base to a scrapheap!"

"Well I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead yells as Bee rapidly nods his head in agreement.

"Evacuation is not an option," I tell them.

"If we don't get the ground bridge back online, stat," Ratchet continues, "Optimus and Arcee will perish."

"They… will?" Jack asks sadly.

Miko then marched angrily over to Bulk. "Bulkhead. You never run!'

"Miko," the giant green Bot tried to explain, "You haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a Bot. I _have_. They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small, juicy bits first, fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, till there is _nothing_ left. And I mean nothing! Not even your optics."

"Okay, that is definitely not a mental image I wanted to have," I tell him.

"You have to let us help," Jack says as he steps forward.

Raf continues. "We're not made of metal!"

"Yeah," Miko agrees. "The scraplets can't hurt us… Wait a second. How come the one Raf trashed attacked Ev?"

"Because I am technically made of metal. At least, my bones are made of an organic metal like Cybertronians. That cut on my hand must have been deep enough for the scraplet to sense my metal skeleton, so that's why it bit my hand."

"Normally I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality," Ratchet tells us. "But it would appear to provide us an advantage given these extremes. But I'm not sure how Everon will fare against these things should they discover that she is made of metal."

"Note to self," I say sarcastically, "Don't hurt yourself to where you require stitches." I then look at my hand and say, "Again.."

"Okay, good," Jack tells the Bots. "So we pair off, one Bot, one human, and Ev can stay here with whoever is watching Ratchet since she is both hurt and can help with the ground bridge. I can watch your backs as you repair the ground bridge."

"And we go on a bug hunt, " Miko says as she jabs her finger over her shoulder at a nervous looking Bulkhead and Bumblebee.

* * *

"Primus, I feel useless right now."

"Ev, you have _stitches_ in your hand. I really don't think that you sitting out for this round is a bad thing."

I stick my tongue out at Jack and the turn my attention back towards my mentor as he mumbled to himself while trying to fix the damaged ground bridge. I wish I could be helping him, but I had only just began to regain any feeling in my hand, and I knew I was going to be in a lot of pain in a few hours. I would take some pain pills, but I hate the weird feeling they give me. Plus, my systems burn through them about three times as fast than a normal human, and they don't work near as well.

Just then, the lights go out, and we instantly hear a loud, girlish scream coming from down the hallway. As the lights slowly came back on, I fumble with our walkie-talkie, which I was put in charge of since Jack got the crowbar, and I say into its speakers, "Hello, Miko? Is that you? Is everything alright?"

_"I'm a little insulted that you thought that was me. And we're fine. Bulkhead apparently got scared from the power outage."_

"Did he really just scream like a little girl?" I ask incredulously.

_"No,"_ he says quickly over his comm link. _"Maybe. Can we talk about this later?"_

I sigh and respond, "Ten four."

_"You need to stop learning military speak from Fowler."_ I ignore her comment and went back to vaguely looking around for any signs of scraplets.

Soon, I hear blaster fire followed by a loud crash and another similar scream. "Miko, come in! Is everything…"

_"We're fine! Bulk freaked and then a bunch of cables fell. I really wish I hadn't seen that freak out though."_

I don't even respond. When the third scream came though, Miko quickly said, _"Found the scraplets, talk to you later, bye!" _

"Well, at least they found something," I tell Jack. "I just wonder how much longer till something finds us." Turning to Ratchet, I ask, "How's it going over there?"

He sighed in frustration. "I've repaired the damaged conductor and rerouted the central conduits, but the ground bridge still won't receive power!" He then punched the ground.

"Hey, easy," I tell him as I place my hand on his leg. "We just need to look back over it again. You'll figure it out."

"Whoa!"

I turn to see what startled Jack, and I am met with the site of hundreds of scraplets flying towards us. "Scrap!"

"They fly!" Jack yells. "You never said they could fly!"

The tiny scraplets began swarming Ratchet as he and Jack try to smash them all. I grab a piece of metal from Ratchet's scrap pile with my good hand and began swinging it through the air in an attempt to help.

Ratchet falls to the ground as they swarm him, instantly being covered. "Ratchet!" I scream, panic overtaking me as these things attack my mentor. I run up to him and begin to knock away as many scraplet as I could, ignoring the pain that was building in my injured hand.

I then see the fire extinguisher off to the side, and I race over to grab it. Limited motion had returned to my right hand, so I used that hand to aim the nozzle as I began to spray the scraplets who instantly froze from the spray. As I finish spraying the ones who were attacking Ratchet, the others approach us, the Bots obviously in as bad of shape as Ratchet.

"Ratchet, grab the patch kit," Bulk says quickly. "We're leaking energon like…Whoa!"

I turn and look up, only to see a gigantic swarm of scraplets in the air above our heads. They dive towards the Bots to attack, and Bumblebee tries shooting them, though it doesn't work for long. Bulk attempts to smash them, yelling, "Eat this!" but the scraplets just attempt to eat his hand.

Soon, all the Bots are down as the humans and I try desperately to help them, the others smashing while I blasted them with the extinguisher. Once we finally managed to contain this swarm, Jack walked up to me and gently pried the extinguisher from my shaking hands. "You might want to let me handle this before you tear you're stitches."

I simply nod to him as he goes to spray the scraplets which were still twitching, and I then go to check on the Bots. Miko and Raf also smashed some of the twitching scraplets as that Jack might have missed.

My hand is shaking from the pain it's in, but I ignore it. "Alright, who has the worst leaks?" I ask the three Bots who were weakly sitting back against one of the platforms. Ratchet was in just as bad of shape as any of them, so I would have to take over as medic for now. "I can grab the patch kit while you guys figure it out. No one moves." I the turn to run towards the med bay and grab what supplies I can move while they begin to talk.

"Did we get them all?" Jack asked but was met by the sounds of faint grinding within the base.

"Hardly," Ratchet responds. "These were just scouts."

**Ugh…** Bumblebee bleeps as he drops his head back onto the crate he was leaning against. By this point, I had come back wheeling the patch cart, but before I could ask, Bumblebee bleeped, **Bulk, Ratchet, then me. My and Ratchet's energon leaks are only scrapes. Bulk actually has a damaged vein.**

Giving a sharp nod, I grab the supplies I need and climb the stairs behind Bulk so I can reach the spot where I see energon leaking before I begin a patch. "So the rest of them know we're in here?" Bulk asks nervously.

"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal," Ratchet continues, "Optimus and Arcee will never make it home. We must get the ground bridge operational."

"Then we can use it to send the scraplets anywhere on Earth," Raf replied.

"The Artic," I say from where I worked on Bulk's vein. "They are relatively small and should freeze immediately in the subzero temperature as they go through the portal."

"Sweet," Miko says. "One stop shopping."

"So we just need to figure out how to fix the ground bridge."

Ratchet then begins to talk to himself. "Thin, Ratchet, think. If the ground bridge is still down… there must be a breach in the energon fuel line!"

**Oh no…** bleeps Bumblebee as he drops his head back onto the crate.

'If we weren't breeching," Bulkhead stated, "one of could get back over there and fix it."

"Where do we find it?" Jack asks, extinguisher in hand.

"And how do we fix it?" Raf adds.

"I can show you," I say as I step back from Bulk's back and walk down the stairs. "I just patched his main leak. The rest is stable, so long as we hurry." I grab a towel and made futile attempt to wipe off my hands, though the movement irritated my stitches. "Frag, that hurts. You guys will have to do the main work part though. My hand feels like it's about to fall off."

Miko decides to chime in with, "And you look like you just stepped out of a slasher film," gesturing to my clothes and body which were now covered in both mine and Bulk's blood, "…though the blue and purplish blood doesn't really help the affect. Wait, you're has purple tones to it! That's awesome!" I merely roll my eyes and motion for them to follow me.

* * *

As we walk along the fuel line cautiously avoiding all the scraplets walking around, I reassure them by saying, "It's okay, they're not sensing any organic metal. We're okay." Just ahead, I see the bluish color of energon coming from the pipe. "There's the breech! Jack, bring the tool kit over here, we have to work fast," I tell him as I bend over to look at the breech. "A simple patch should do just fine."

I explain to the three what to do and how to apply the sealant and use the soldering tool, and for a while, all is quiet. I should have known the quiet would last only so long. The scraplets out of nowhere took off into the air and through a vent. "They're getting ready to feed!" Raf yelled in a worried tone.

I don't take the time to respond. I just take off done the hallway, my long legs sending me flying faster then I could remember ever running before. Once I make it to the main room, the others somewhere behind me, I yell, "Ratchet, all systems go!"

"Fire it up!" Miko adds as she enters with the others just behind me.

Ratchet, with much effort, manages to stand and pull the lever, only to fall again. "Ground bridge… activated," he said faintly.

I look at my fellow Bots and see that they are in no condition to lure out the scraplets swarming overhead. Making a last minute decision, I grab a scalpel from my med kit that I had left on the ground, and, with a mumbled, "This is gonna hurt…" I split open my stitches. The pain was excruciating, but I had a plan in mind.

Standing in front of the ground, I began to wave my injured had in the air, gaining the swarming scraplets attention. "Come and get it!" Obviously more interested in the different organic metal composition than that of the Bots, they dove towards me as I turned to run through the ground.

As I was hit by a blast of freezing air after exiting through the ground bridge, I fall to my knees, instantly in shock. I look up to see my dad and Arcee looking at me in both shock and confusion. "Get down!" I manage to yell, just as hundreds of little scraplets fly through the vortex.

My dad moves to shield himself and Arcee, but the tiny vermin have already frozen by the time they reach him. They merely plink and clunk against his armor. When the final one falls, my dad looks to me as I lay huddled on the ground. 'I'd… invite you… in…" I stutter, about to lose consciousness. "But the place… is… a mess…"

They slowly make their way towards me, and just as my dad reaches to scoop me up, I pass out.

I woke up not long after we reentered the base, and I immediately began to take over the med lab, save a few bits of advice from Ratchet.

"Report biocircuitry status?" I call out to Jack from Ratchet's shoulder as I patch a leak.

"Levels are rising," he tells me as he gives me a thumbs up.

"Excellent. Raf, keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electropulse monitor. Miko, can you check Bulk's interface patch?"

"It's steady," Raf replies.

"Looking good!" Miko says.

"Perhaps you should get some rest, Everon," my dad tells me. "You and Ratchet helped save quite a few lives today."

"It wasn't all our doing," I tell him.

"We're just fortunate," Ratchet continued, "that this infestation happened on a Saturday."

"Our human friend's may be small, but they are strong," my dad comments. "Still, Everon, you need to re-stitch your hand before the wound becomes worse."

I sigh. "Fine, just help me down Ratchet so I can grab my medical kit."

A loud, high pitch scream from Miko gathered our attention. Jack and Raf jumped in front of her, each holding a crowbar. As they looked around, Jack asked, "Scraplet?"

"Spider!" she yelled in response. "Is it on me?!" She then began dancing around before running off as the rest of us just watched her go in confusion.

Bulkhead asked, "Did she just scream like a little girl?" as Miko's screams could be heard in the distance.

* * *

Later that night, everyone was asleep or in shut down but me. The humans had asked their parents' for permission to spend the night with me, and they were all asleep next to their respective Bot guardians who they now guarded.

I had just gotten a shower and rinsed off all the blood. The smell had finally begun to get to me, and I just ended up trashing the clothes, knowing that they were ruined. That's what I get for wearing an outfit I like around base.

As I head back to the main room to check on the Bots one last time before crashing, I notice my father attempting to walk towards the main floor of the base. "And where do you think you're going?" I ask quietly so not to wake the others.

He looks to me and seemed relieved. "I was worried when I awakened and you were gone."

"had to grab a shower," I told him as I sauntered up in my clean jersey and shorts with my hair still wet. I carried my blanket and pillow from my room since the others were using all the spares we kept out here. "You should still be in shut down." He simply smiled and sat down against one of the platforms before holding his hand out to me.

With my own small smile, I walk forward and grasp his finger for a moment before moving to sit in his hand as he lifted me to his shoulder.

Once comfortable, I begin to speak again. "I've… been wondering. Next weekend is a long weekend, since we have Monday off. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to go on a trip…. Alone."

After being silent for a minute, he responds. "May I ask why?"

"I just… need time to clear my head. Everything has been happening so all at once lately, and I think it's only going to continue being that way from now on. I'm not handling well being surrounded by everyone, and I'm afraid that if I don't take this time to get away, I might end up pushing everyone away."

I think back to this morning and Bulk's offer to drive me. Those little things may seem insignificant, but I knew that I had many other examples of my growing apart from the team, and it worried them as much as me. "I think that

Taking some time to adjust might be a good thing, my daughter. Just remember, we will always be here should you need us."

"I know, Daddy." With that, we fell into companionable silence, and sleep soon claimed me.

* * *

**And that's the end to another chapter! I'm a little excited about tomorrow's chapter, and the one after it is going to be my work, not an episode from the series.**

**So, please review and give me your feedback of my work so far!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey, I'm reposting this chapter because I am extremely forgetful and forgot to add page breaks. The fact that I forgot them kind of bugged me, so I had to fix it. The rest of the chapter is the same though.**

* * *

Submerging once again, I indulge in the feeling of the cool river washing over me. With the past few weeks of stress and tension, the sensation sets me at ease. My muscles in my side had finally lost their dull ache in recent days from when I fell off Bulk's shoulder, and thanks to my fast ability to heal, I had already been able to remove the stitches in my hand. Physically, I almost felt whole again.

Mentally was an entirely different story.

But that's what this trip was for. True to his word, my dad let me take the weekend to be alone. Everyone had reacted differently when I told them about my solo journey. Arcee seemed the most understanding, not questioning my desire to go, but she gave me a sad smile instead. Ratchet was on the other end of the spectrum, getting upset but my dad cut off his questions with a look. Bumblebee and

Bulkhead just seemed sad that I would want to leave, but I assured them that this trip would be a good thing for me.

Jack, of course, was worried for me, but I told him the same explanation that I gave my dad the night before. That seemed to be enough for him, though like everyone else, he was a bit worried for me. Raf seemed a little confused about my leaving, but he accepted it when Jack did. Miko just tried to talk me into letting her tag along. She pouted for a good hour when I told her no.

That week between when I told them and the Friday evening when I left was filled with discussions over what I should do, where I should go, and tips on how to be safe. Honestly, I have never felt more smothered in my life. Also, in the days leading up to my weekend off, each of the Bots wanted a day to drive me to and from school. First Bulkhead then Bee, Arcee, and even Ratchet claimed a day to drive me.

Each ride was their opportunity to try and talk to me personally, something that I had not really done in a while with anyone on the team. The only person I have really talked to personally and one on one in recent years was Cliffjumper. I had not realized how distant I had become from the others until recently.

My dad claimed me on Friday, the day I was supposed to leave. The ride had been mostly silent, but it was comfortable silence. Daddy and I didn't need to talk much: we appreciated each other's presence. I always felt most at ease when riding with him, and the ride had been a perfect way to set off my trip.

As I resurface, I decide that I had been swimming long enough. Walking back onto the riverbank, I make my way to the large flat rock where I had laid out my bag and supplies. With one last stretch, I lie down on the rock under the last glimpses of the late day sun and pull out an energy bar and a bottle of water from my backpack.

Since I had first started planning my getaway, I had been adamant that I didn't want to have any human or Cybertronian contact until I return Monday evening and school resumed the next day. So, I packed a backpack full of energy bars, water bottles, a change of clothes and the swimsuit I was currently wearing. The only shoes I brought were my combat boots so I could easily drive my bike, which was parked nearby in the shade.

Once I finish my food and water, I decide to pull out my phone and check to see if I had any messages. The moment I left, I had shut off my phone. I knew that the Bots would most likely not call me, respecting my wishes for some privacy, but… I may or may not have told Fowler that I was leaving…

As I had thought, I had about 14 missed calls from him including nine very angry voice mails followed by one frustrated but relatively calmer one that told me to be careful. I guess he had finally calmed down enough to listen to my dad explain. As I'm about to hit delete all, I realize that I also have a message from Miko. As I hit play, her overly excited voice fills my ear.

_"Okay, I know that we promised to leave you be for the weekend, but you are never going to guess what just happened! We got a message from space from a Bot who claims to be an old partner of Bulkhead's! I think he said that he was a Wrecker named Wheeljack. Anyway, Bulk is real pumped about his buddy showing up, but he is also bummed. He wants you to meet the guy, but Optimus told Bulk not to bother you and to introduce you two later. Luckily, I didn't get the same order, but I probably would have ignored it anyway._

_ "Please can you come to meet up with this guy? Bulk would be stoked if you showed up! Apparently we are having him land in some random area and bridging him over in case it's a Con trap. I'll send you the picture of the coordinates from Ratchet's screen. He is supposed to land tomorrow. Anyway, I got to go, I'm gonna miss the monster truck showing. Bye!"_

And that was the end of the message. Sure enough, when I checked my inbox, the coordinates were there. I had heard of Wheeljack before. He and Bulk had been close friends during the war, and he had always told me how I would have loved him. Knowing how much seeing Wheeljack again would mean to Bulk, I decide that my vacation would have to be cut short.

Realizing that I had quite a distance to drive if I wanted to surprise them at the meeting point, I quickly dress quickly and head to my bike with my gear. Once seated, I slip on my helmet and race off through the trees to the nearby road.

Time to greet the new Autobot.

* * *

I woke up to a stiff pain in my back. I had reached the landing zone a few hours before dawn, and had decided that it would be best to catch up on some sleep while I waited for the Wrecker to land. Since I am such a light sleeper, I had no worries of sleeping through the ship's landing.

What I didn't expect was to wake up to the sound of blaster fire.

Bolting upright, I manage to crawl over some rocks just in time to see a Cybertronian ship crash right into the Texas sand a few hundred yards away. (Author note: I know this was probably in some other country, but I moved it for my story's direction.) Not wanting to just wait here and fearing the Bot could be injured, I jump from the rock crevice where I had hidden myself and my bike from the blazing sun and raced over to the downed ship.

Unfortunately, my brain forgot to process that if the ship had been shot down, someone had to have been doing to shooting. As I get close, I skid to a stop as several Vehicon troopers land in the crash marks of the ship. Before they approach though, a single shot coming through the engine smoke takes down one of the troopers. Emerging from the smoke, the shooter declared, "If you're trying to ruin my day, you're going to have to try harder." His facemask then closes before jumping into battle.

I was in total awe of the Bot's fighting skills. Watching as the white Wrecker with green and red detailing battled, I could not help but see why Bulkhead had always spoken so highly of his fieldwork. His movements were both fluid and forceful, and it was obvious that he was meant for this. His weapons though were what sold me: a pair of long katanas, ones that fit perfectly with his movements and fighting prowess. I had always wished for that kind of weapon, but as a human, I knew they would never be practical for me.

Since I was so enthralled in the fight, I didn't notice the Con until he was plucking me off the ground. "Lord Starscream," he spoke into his comm link, and I cringed at the idea of Starscream being the lord of anything. "The princess is here as well. I have her and can bring her back onto the ship."

"What, No! Put me down, now!" I yell as futilely struggle in his grasp. "Slag it, this is NOT how I planned my weekend. Let me go, Con!"

At this point, Wheeljack had finally noticed the commotion I was causing. "Hey, Con, what are you doing? It's not nice to ignore your guests." Unfortunately, Wheeljack had forgot about the Con on the ground next to him, and before I could shout my warning, the Con shot him in the side. Soon, three Cons were beating him into the ground while I futilely screamed and yelled for them to stop.

They eventually did, when they were sure Wheeljack couldn't fight back, and they began to drag him through a newly opened vortex while my Con carried me on board. As we entered, another Cybertronian exited. One who looked identical to Wheeljack. "Makeshift…"

Yeah, this weekend was definitely not going as planned.

* * *

After spending about an hour in Soundwave's care, I was beyond angry. I was livid.

The first thing that Starscream had done when we arrived was order the drone to put me in Soundwave's care, then told the others to drag Wheeljack to the brig as he walked slowly behind them with his creepy, evil version of a Cheshire cat grin.

I kind of felt bad for Soundwave at the moment, but only slightly. For the past half hour, I had grown impatient of waiting to know what was happening and had begun to rant and scream and try to elicit a response from the silent Con. I should have known better: when I had been in a… disagreeable mood during my time on the warship, everyone, even Megatron, wanted to avoid me. I normally ended up dropped off at Soundwave's station, seeing as how he seemed immune to my temper.

Normally, though, he could calm me down, showing me the computer systems or listening to me or occasionally listening to music with me. Today, I was in no mood to be calmed down.

Realizing I had to resort to drastic measures, I threatened, "Look, I know that I am older and haven't done this in _years_, but if I don't get to see that Autobot _now_, I will start doing that thing you hate so much." That got the Con to look at me. When he didn't move, though, I took that as a response to show him a little incentive to listen to me.

Taking a deep breath, I began to scream, very loudly, and very high pitched. Yes, this is very childish, but it does work. The sound grates at his sound processors and he normally can't stand it for long. As I scream, he jumps, and then, after less than a few seconds, he scoops me up and opens a ground bridge.

_Now I just have to hope he doesn't dump me somewhere instead of taking me to see Wheeljack…_

As we enter the vortex, I immediately relax when we exit in front of the door to the brig. Starscream was standing there, and he immediately began speaking to Soundwave, utterly ignoring my presence.

"The moment Makeshift stepped through that portal, we lost his signal. No doubt the Autobot base is heavily shielded to prevent our locating it." He then looks down at me, continuing by saying, "No matter. I have complete faith in Makeshift."

I just glared at the Con with a look that made him squirm a bit. "You're not going to get away with it: the Bots will figure him out. Then your inside man is scrap."

Turning to Soundwave, he asked with a sneer, "Why did you bring her here? I thought I said to keep her on the… she did that thing, didn't she? Annoying little brat." He muttered the last part.

"At least I'm not a groveling little twit. You're nothing like Megatron. You'll run the Decepticons into the ground. And, for your information, I want to see Wheeljack. Since Knockout isn't here, I'm the closest thing you have to an experienced medic who knows more than a simple patch job."

"Why should I let _you_ anywhere near him?"

"Do you want me to make everyone's life a living slag pit? Besides, I'll be locked in the brig with him: what harm could I do there?" Starscream growled but relented, obviously not wanting to deal with me. Thank the Allspark that the crew still wanted to try and convert me to their side as their princess, or I would have been squished by now.

Entering the chamber where they were keeping Wheeljack, I can see that he is a little battered down, but no major signs of system damage. He hung in the room's center from chains, but it was obvious that he still had some fight left in him. "Tell Megatron," he said weakly, "that he's fragged if he thinks Bulkhead won't sniff out an imposter."

"Oh, so I've been told…" Starscream says while looking distastefully back at me. I just give him a smirk as if saying 'I told you so.' Turning back to Wheeljack, he continues. "Haven't you heard, though? I lead the Decepticons now."

"You? Ha!"

I smile and say, "I like this guy. Soundwave, can I check him out while high heels here tries to act macho. Starscream glares at me as Wheeljack snickers.

"Whose the gal? I think I'm starting to like her, too." As Soundwave steps forward, Wheeljack can finally see me in the light. His mouth falls open before stating, "That's a native… What's wrong with you Cons? Why drag her into this?"

By this point, Soundwave is already standing next to Wheeljack and reaches up to place me on his shoulder. "It's okay, Jackie. I was kind of born into this. Into both sides…" Before he can say anything, I begin to climb around his shoulders trying look for any major wounds.

Starscream decided to try and take back the spotlight. "Makeshift is very good at keeping up appearances. He need only fool your friends long enough to open their ground bridge from within, so that I may finally learn the location of the Autobot base and send in my strike team to stain its floor with the spilt energon of Optimus Prime."

"Good luck with _that_, Screamer," I say sarcastically as I hang upside down from Wheeljack's shoulder. "It's not like Megatron hasn't been trying that since the war's beginning…" I could hear Starscream growl, but I turned my head to him and said, "I would quit while you're ahead."

With that Starscream turned on his heel and stormed from the chamber, calling the guards to follow him and Soundwave. Soon, I was alone with Wheeljack.

"You definitely have some guts, kid."

I flip back up on his shoulder and said, "He wouldn't have done anything. He may be arrogant, but he knows when a situation calls for a little restraint. When it comes to me, he has to show _a lot_ of restraint."

"Why? And what are you doing?"

"I'm checking your systems for any damage, and as for why, well… I'm not exactly a normal human."

"Does this have something to do with your comment about being born into this war."

I took a moment to think before responding. "I… well long story short, my mother is human, the dominant native species of this planet, and my dad… well technically I have two."

"Wait, what?"

With a sigh, I said, "One of my father's tried to perform a spark shock to save my mom's life. It saved her, but I happened in the process. I'm part Cybertronian."

Wheeljack seemed to jump a bit at this. "Wait, you're part Cybertronian? How is that even possible?" I shrug and plop down his shoulder seeing that there wasn't really much I could do to treat him: he was relatively stable, just needed recuperation time. "So, who are the two Bots who tried the spark shock on your mom?"

I hesitate. "One is an Autobot… the other is a Con who owed my daddy a favor…"

Wheeljack whistled. "Whoa, talk about complicated."

"You have no idea."

"So, whose the Autobot? I can understand not telling me about the Con, but I'm curious about the Bot. Wait: Is it Bulkhead? If it is, I don't know how I'd feel about you calling me Uncle."

I manage to laugh a little. "No, Bulkhead is like a sweet older brother to me. My daddy… well, he is our team leader: Optimus Prime."

"You're a daughter of a Prime? Well, no wonder you're so special around here. No Con in is right mind would hurt you if they could avoid it. I'm surprised they had the ball bearings enough to take you."

"It's… not the first time. When I was seven Earth years old, which is similar to a Cybertronian child's age, I snuck onto a battlefield and was taken. I didn't come home till I was twelve, almost thirteen. The reason I was taken, though, was because Megatron had figured out who I really was when I yelled Daddy to Optimus. I'm… my other spark half belongs to Megatron himself. I'm his daughter…"

By this point, my voice is as low as a whisper. I angle my head down to my hands, which were clasped in my lap, and wait silently for his response. When he responds, he asks rhetorically, "How could ol' Buckethead get lucky enough to have you as his kid? Guess I'm lucky you're on my side."

My head jerks upright. "You… don't think differently me? I mean, I would understand, especially given the circumstances but…"

"You are right, I do think differently of you, but not in the way you think. You may be Megatron's daughter, but you chose Optimus. You could be running this place right now, taking up in Megatron's place instead of Starscream, a position that you would obviously have the support of the crew with, but you're here. With me. Looking to see if I'm injured. You're too caring to ever be a Con, and I admire you even more knowing that you gave up all that to be an Autobot."

I'm silent, thinking over what he said. When I do respond, my voice sounds small and unsteady. "Thank you. Really. You have no idea what that means to me, I… I really needed that. From someone outside of the team, at least."

"You're welcome… Frag, I never got your name."

I laugh a bit, realizing that we had completely overlooked that mundane detail. "Given the circumstances, I can understand why. My name is Everon."

This time, he chuckled a bit. "Of course it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Your name: it means Hope. An old archaic form of the word, but sounds better than the other version. I take it Prime named you that?"

"Oh, yeah he did… My mom wanted my name to be in Cybertronian."

"Well, Everon, it suits you. And we could both use a little bit of hope right now. That and a plan."

"I know the ins and outs of this warship. Living here for five years does have its benefits. If you could get us out of this chamber, I can get us topside of the ship." I then grimace at a worrisome thought. "If we're airborne though, we might have some issues…"

"Hey, that's more of a plan than we had five minutes ago. Besides, we need to go scrap that Armada before Screamer sends them into the base."

I sigh, knowing that I won't be of much help once we reach that part. "All I'll be able to do is cause a distraction at most. Unfortunately, humans squish easy."

"C'mon, you humans can't be that bad…"

"I fell from Bulkhead's shoulder a few weeks back and if I didn't have organic metal bones, I'd have died on the spot. I did however suffer from intense bruising to my side which made it painful for me to even move."

After a pause, he continued. "Okay, no offense, but being a human sounds like it sucks. And remind me to smack Bulk in the head for dropping you."

With a roll of my eyes, I tell him, "Tell me something I don't know. And it's not his fault. He was tackled by a drone which had just come through one of the ship's hatches, and he has already been scolded enough by everyone else for bringing me here in the first place."

He began to chuckle, but before he could continue, the doors opened and a trooper entered the chamber. He stepped forward and declared, "I am here to collect the princess under Lord Starscream's orders."

"How many times have I said to everyone not to call me princess! And I'm not leaving him, do you understand?" The drone ignored my request and moved forward. "Jackie, open you're chassis, now!"

He didn't question my request, and I slipped into his chassis as he opened it. As soon as I was in, he shut the chassis again, obviously catching on to my idea. "You want her? Guess you'd have to take me, too."

"You're not going anywhere, Autobot scum!" Immediately after the drone spoke, I heard the clashing of metal and the sounds of shots being fired.

"Blah, blah, blah…" Wheeljack remarked sarcastically. Soon, there was a crash, followed by the sensation of Wheeljack falling to the ground. His chassis opened, and I pulled myself out onto his shoulder. "Ready to roll Wrecker style?"

With a smirk, I respond, "Let's go say hi to Starscream's Armada…"

* * *

"This hatch should be our easiest way up. The other paths are normally heavily guarded, and stealth would be a plus at the moment. You'll have to climb up the side of the ship though…"

"Smart thinking," Wheeljack told me as we approached the hatch. Plucking me off his shoulder, he continued with, "I guess now would be a good time to carry you in my chassis instead…"

"Seriously? Why does everyone have to coddle me! I know I squish easy but still, I'm getting real sick of being carried around during battle like spare cargo!"

Wheeljack whistled. "Remind me not to piss you off. I guess I struck a nerve?"

I won't look him in the eyes. "It's a long story. Short version, I was nabbed by a Con, spent the entire fight in his chassis and later the pilot's seat when he gained a vehicle mode. I was pretty pissy when I got out."

With a sigh, he tells me, "Look, I don't mean to treat you like you can't handle yourself, but things happen, and I rather not spend my reunion with my old pal explaining how I dropped his little sister off a Decepticon warship. Besides, I honestly don't think I could live with myself if something were to happen to you. You're kind of growing on me."

"Fine… but you owe me."

He rolled his eyes but decided to take what he had and not argue with me. As soon as I was secure, I could here him climb up onto the flight deck of the ship. Starscream could be heard yelling to who I could only assume was Soundwave. "Are you sure the ship is at the coordinates supplied to Makeshift?!" A pause, before he continued. "Then what is taking him!"

Wheeljack was walking forward at this point. "Maybe he was given such a hero's welcome," he began, "he got the warm and fuzzies and decided to switch sides."

"Do you not see that you are vastly outnumbered?" Starscream asked him.

"I see fellas who might vastly enjoy watching me pound some dents into you." Wheeljack quipped back. "Besides, since I'm carrying their princess at the moment," I can hear his hand hit his chest, "they might not be overly enthusiastic over attacking me."

Starscream stuttered but yelled, "Destroy him!" With that, blaster fire ensued, and I could hear Wheeljack yelled as he lunged into battle.

Honestly, I had no real idea of what was going on during the battle. I could only tell that from his lack of being slammed into the ground, Wheeljack was probably doing quite well for himself.

"Well, well…"

"Wheeljack? What's going on?" I yell, trying to figure out what he was talking about. As I feel him begin to run, he pops open his chassis and scoops me up. "Hey! Watch… Is that a ground bridge portal?"

"Yeah, and it's our ticket to base," he tells me, never slowly his speed as he plops me on his shoulder. "Hang on!" We then enter the vortex, and with a lunge through the air, katanas at the ready, he lands in the base, perfectly on top of the imposter.

As Makeshift goes down and slides into the cement base of one of the platforms, I can see Miko fly through the air into Bulk's hand. He then sits her down on the ground, and she and the other humans run up to the real Wheeljack. Sheathing his katanas, he announces, "I'd shut that door before the stink comes through. They are a little upset that I snuck out with this one."

I merely tell the astounded looking Bots from my spot on Wheeljack's shoulder with a maniacal grin, "This is so much better than a soul searching weekend." By this point, Ratchet had shut the ground bridge, surprisingly before any of the other Cons had come through.

The Wrecker then scooped me up and handed me to Ratchet. "Mind holding this for me?"

"Hey, 'this' has a name," but my comment has no malice in it. I watch, absorbed as Wheeljack and the imposter began to circle each other, katanas drawn. Bulkhead pounds his fists together, showing the intent to trash Makeshift, but Wheeljack blocks him with a sword, never stuttering in his circling movements.

"Ugly's mine."

With that, the two identical looking Bots lunge, blades clashing as they met each other blow to blow. An outside observer might not be able to tell, but each held there own fighting and skill. My Wheeljack dove in, showed more aggression while the imposter merely tried to match blows. The more skilled one was obviously the real Jackie, and his fighting was as fluid as when he had been attacked after the crash.

"Which one is the real Wheeljack?" Raf asked from where he, Jack, and Miko stood off to the side.

Miko looked confused and panicked. "Uh, I lost track!"

I just continued to watch, knowing which one was real just by the style of fighting. Mine at one point dropped a sword and grabbed his opponents wrist. As Makeshift tried to pull away, Wheeljack brought his knee up into the other's face, knocking him to the ground, and then Jackie grabbed one of makeshift's katanas from mid air before pointing it into the downed Con's face.

"That's my Jackie," Bulkhead stated proudly from his spot off to the side.

Wheeljack then sheathed his katanas before turning to Ratchet who was still holding me. "You, hit the switch. It's time to take of the trash. Oh, but first," he added as walked up to Ratchet. "This," he said as he quickly picked me up from my mentor's hand, "would be mine."

I roll my eyes at him, vaguely unaware of the shock on Ratchet's face. "And what makes you so sure that I still want to hang out with you?" I tell him mockingly. "Maybe I just needed a way off the ship."

"I'll take the fact that you aren't berating me as a good sign," he replies casually as he sits me on his shoulder. Ratchet had begun to fire up the ground bridge when Wheeljack added, maybe we should send our guest here back with a nice gift…"

"Please tell me it's something that makes a loud boom sound."

As he kneels next to the downed Con, he tells me, "Grenades are my specialty." Once he is done, he tells Bulk, "All yours, buddy."

Bulkhead picks up the Con and carries him to the open ground bridge. With an expert spin that any discus thrower would be jealous of, he lobs the Con straight into the vortex. "I take it we won't be getting any Christmas cards from him." I say sarcastically."

"What's a Christmas card?"

"I'll explain later, Jackie. I think it's time for your long overdue reunion."

* * *

The day had been a long one. After everyone exchanged their side of what happened, the party, which Wheeljack and I had not been present for in the beginning, resumed in full swing. Miko played her guitar while Jack, Raf, and Bumblebee danced as Arcee just watched with a look on her face that said that she would never participate.

"It's like a recurring nightmare…" Ratchet mumbled.

"I could always hook up my playlist to the base's speaker system!" I call over to him. "It gets much louder that way." All he did was grumble.

Jackie had yet to sit me down. I had asked once, trying to give him and Bulk time to catch up without the third party listening in, but all he said was "No," before continuing right back into the conversation. It's not that I don't like him, I actually truly enjoy Wheeljack's company, I just hadn't expected him to have taken to me so quickly.

My dad had finally returned, and we had to fill him in what all he missed. Once that was done, Bulkhead had started to speak to Wheeljack. "Now that you're part of Team Prime, we have to pick out a vehicle mode for you! I have some ideas."

"Uh, about that," Wheeljack said. His tone told me that I wasn't going to like what he had to say. "Bulk, once my ship's repaired, well, I'm itching to know what else I might find out there?"

"Wait, you're leaving?" Miko asked as she ran over to us with Raf and Jack in tow. "Why?"

Jackie looked at a loss for words, but Bulk spoke for him. "um, because some Bots never change…"

"Wheeljack," my dad said, "Know that you always have a haven here." By this point, I had been slowly easing my way off Wheeljack's shoulder to jump onto a nearby box.

"Jackie never stays," Bulk says as he smacks Wheeljack on the back then pulls him into a one armed hug. "…but he always comes back." I was heading off, completely unnoticed by the others, towards the elevator platform.

"Of course I'm gonna come back to see you Bulk," I could here him say as jabbed the elevator button. "And to see my…" As I turn around from entering the elevator, I see Wheeljack staring at me. Everyone began to turn to look as I pressed the up button, and Wheeljack finished his sentence. "…to see my partner."

That's when the door closed.

* * *

**And that's where I'm going to leave things. I will write the next chapter soon, but I'm moving into my college dorm this week, so as of now, I'm going to have to drop my chapter writing to one chapter a week, maybe two. Its sucks, but I don't have much of a choice. **

**Anyway, please review! I really like reviews…**


	11. Wheeljack

My visit to Earth has so far not been what I was expecting. My expectations had included catching up with Bulkhead and kicking some Con tailpipe, and though that's in a sense what happened, in reverse order, one thing had changed everything.

That thing was named Everon Prime.

I barely knew her, yet I felt like I could trust her with my life. She had a passion and fire about her, and I could tell that she was loyal to a fault. Even hearing about her true parentage did not deter me in the slightest. All I wanted was to be in her presence, and honestly, that thought scared me.

That's what led me to want to go. I knew that I would eventually come back, but I couldn't get too attached too quickly to her. I already was to a point where I didn't want her to leave my side, so I knew that I would need to leave soon after my ship was fixed.

I expected her reaction to range from either upset to furious. I did not, however, expect her to leave the room without a word. "Where is she going?" I ask Bulkhead, immediately worried.

He sighs. "She is going topside of the base. It might be best if you let her cool off for a bit. She didn't seem too happy…"

"Yeah, subtlety has never been my forte. How do I get up there?"

Ratchet, the medic with an attitude problem, spoke up in response to my question. "Everon has not been in the best of moods lately. Approaching her now will probably only result in her snapping at you and her taking longer to calm down. Let her be."

"Well," I snap at the medic, "Since it's _my_ fault she's upset, I think _I _might want to go and talk to her." By this point, I feel a large hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see Optimus standing next to me. With a sigh, I tell him, "Please, I just want to talk to her."

He looks at me for a moment then says, "Very well. I will show you how to reach the top of the base."

Now, here I stand, overlooking the desert landscape from base's rooftop. But the view doesn't hold my gaze. Instead, I look over to the small figure facing away from me towards a large pile of stones. _Oh scrap._ I could recognize what the pile was for. I had seen many during the war, and when I hear her take a shaky breath, I know that it is what I think it is.

Before I can speak up, though, she cuts me off without even lifting her head from where she is resting it on her knees. "Go away, Wheeljack." Her voice is clipped and harsh, but it had an underlying tone of sadness.

Ignoring her, I walk up and kneel down next to her. "Were you… close?"

She still has yet to look at me. "He was my best friend, might as well have been my older brother. When I was little, I worshipped him. When I came back, though, from my time with the Decepticons…. He was my rock. I reconnected with him the easiest, and I love everyone on this team but my relationship with everyone had changed. Except him. He made me feel normal again."

I'm quiet for a minute, absorbing everything said. "Would of loved to have met him."

"He would have talked your ear off." I chuckle a bit under my breath, and she manages a small smile. Turning her face to me and resting her cheek on her knee, she continued. "His name was Cliffjumper. He was Arcee's partner…" The smile fell from her face. "I was there. I saw the Cons attack him and take him. And there was nothing I could do…" Her eyes looked lost in thought, far and distant.

"Primus… Ev, I don't know what to say…" Losing a friend was hard, but it is unfortunately common in this war.

"First Cliffjumper, then Megatron, then Skyquake… Lots of death these past few weeks." Seeing my confusion over the last two she mentioned, she continued. "Skyquake was a high ranking warrior in the Decepticons. Loyal and honorable. I tried to get him to leave the Decepticons, to join us or at least refuse to serve under Starscream. The minute he heard that I was Megatron's daughter though, all he wanted to do was have me take over as the rightful heir and purge my mind of the Autobot influences."

"Wow. Was this when you spent the entire fight being carried around by the Con?"

"Yep. And as far as Megatron's death goes… I don't know how to feel. When I lived on the ship, all I saw of him was the loving father. He would bend over backwards for me, trying to earn my trust. I knew what he was deep down, but I never could believe it until Starscream told me everything. That's when I left. And, in the end, he chose his twisted dream of power over me…"

"He didn't deserve you." My response is quick but firm. "You deserve a father who will put you over everything else."

She smiles again. "I have one. Optimus is a better father than I could ever ask for. I just… I still miss the father that I used to know." I start to speak, deciding that now would be a good moment to bring up our real problem, but she cut me off. "I don't want to talk about it. I understand not being able to feel… comfortable in certain situations. To need to leave."

With a sigh, I say, "If I could, I would take you with me in a sparkbeat. I don't want to leave, but…"

"You're like a nomad. You're not comfortable staying in one place: it's a transition, one that you would need time to ease into."

"I will come back. Can't leave my partner for long."

Her head perks up, but then she cocks her head to the side and gave me an inquisitive look. "Partner? You called me that earlier but…"

"Aren't Miko and the others like the Bots partners? I couldn't imagine wanting anyone else as a partner." A tender smile grows into a grin on her face.

"When do you think you're repairs will be done?"

"Depends on how much you want me to teach you about the ol' Jackhammer while I fix it. I'm thinking about a week."

"Well, we're going have to work around my school schedule, so…"

We then sat in silence for a while, before I finally scooped her up and carried her back into the base.

* * *

One thing that I've learned about Everon: she is meticulous about how she looks. Every morning, she goes into her room and could spend hours getting ready. I discovered this Monday, the day she had off from school.

Standing outside her room, I was growing impatient, shifting from foot to foot, wondering how it could take her so long to get ready. Deciding that I had waited long enough, I simply opened the door that Bulk had built to allow room for the Autobots to enter and went into her room.

Her room was basically a large empty storage room that had once been the dormitory for the soldiers who ran this former missile silo. The room had been renovated by Bulkhead and turned into what Everon called "an open-styled loft." Basically, it had all the amenities that a normal human would need.

Said human was currently standing in front of what I think she called a closet full of clothes. She had been in the process of pulling a shirt on over her head, and she seemed to have not yet put on pants. I know humans have no outer shell, but the clothes they wear seem to have no point but to cover themselves or to show off styles and tastes. I guess that's the same point as our paint jobs, but at least we have a useful outer shell.

Moving back to the matter at hand, I had just stepped into the room while she was getting dressed and asked, "Okay, what gives? You've been in here for…" By this point, Ev had spun around to face me while finishing yanking on her shirt. She looked shocked at first, but soon the shock turned to anger.

"Wheeljack! Have you ever heard of knocking?" Her face had begun to turn a funny shade of pink while she talked. That I later learned was a human indicator of being embarrassed.

"What? You're taking forever. And you're the one who insisted on picking out my vehicle mode." I honestly did not understand why she was so upset. Or covering her lower half.

"Out, out, out!" She then threw a shoe at me, and though it didn't hurt, understood the intent behind it.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. But honestly, you look perfectly fine."

"I'm not even wearing pants! And what do you know about what looks good for human standards?"

"You look fine in whatever you wear. Anyone would know that, whether they're human or not." With that, I left, expecting another hour or so of her primping, but she was out within the next few minutes, a sheepish smile on her face.

* * *

Everon loved machines. She loved building them and seeing what made them tick. That's one of the reasons Ratchet says she makes such a good apprentice, but Ev has a passion for human machines.

"No. Not enough horsepower…" Everon and I were currently sitting under cover near what she called a highway. We were trying to pick out a vehicle mode for me, and so far nothing had met her standards. Somehow she had sweet-talked Ratchet into ground bridging us somewhere else to search for a vehicle, somewhere more populated then Jasper, Nevada.

"There has to be a better way to do this," I tell her.

She shakes her head from where she sits on my shoulder with her knees drawn to her chest. "There is no way I'm going to let you have some second rate, muscle car wannabe vehicle mode. I know engines, and you need one which really knows how to purr." As if on cue, the sound of an engine comes from down the road. "And it sounds like we might have a winner."

Immediately I crouch forward in the tree line we were currently hiding in. The engine was loud; we heard it long before we saw it. When it finally came around the curve, Everon began to bounce and practically squeal in excitement. With a smirk, I say, "I take it you approve?"

"That's a Ferrari! And that engine has got to be super charged… What are you waiting for? Scan it, now!"

I laugh a bit, but do what she says before the car speeds away. Then, after sitting her on the ground, I shift to my new form and rev my engine a few times. She was right: this car really did purr. And the engine was nicer than I expected. Popping open my passenger door, I ask Everon who had a face splitting grin, "So, wanna ride?"

"Do you actually have to ask?" She tells me excitedly as she practically jumps into my car form. "Just drive!" And we take off. She soon rolls down the windows and is sticking her head out while screaming in pure delight. "This is amazing!"

"You sure know your Earth vehicles, I'll give you that."

"Yeah, well, you should see my bike… Oh scrap!" Her sudden change in tone startled me, and I skidded to a stop.

"What? What's wrong?"

"My bike is still at the crash site! Primus, the engine is probably chock full of sand, and the solar panels…." I start laughing, and she looked towards my steering wheel with a look of confusion. "What's so funny?"

"I was freaking out, thinking we were under attack, but here you are, getting more upset over your bike than facing down Starscream." My tone is entirely casual and joking, so rather than get upset, she rolls her eyes and sticks out her tongue. I laugh again and say, "Let's get you back to base and get your bike. We can check over the Jackhammer while we're there."

As soon as she got her bike back to base, she grabbed a tool set and began a full and thorough check of her bike. I spent most of that time talking to Bulkhead, but I kept subconsciously stealing glances in her direction. Bulkhead figured out why I seemed distracted real fast.

"You seem to get along real well with the kid," he randomly commented.

I quickly snap my optics back to him. "Huh? Well, she is easy to get along with. Plus, she can really tell off a Decepticon."

Bulk laughed lightly at this. "Yeah, that sounds like Ev. Just, you both have become extremely close."

I try to think of an answer, but luckily, my need to respond is cut off by Everon who was completely unaware of the direction the conversation was going. "Hey Jackie, would you mind lifting up my bike? I can't reach under it very well. Well, not comfortably at least." I give Bulk a shrug, and head over to help my partner with her bike.

* * *

If there was one thing Ratchet and I agreed on, it was our mutual agreement on much of a waste of time school was for Everon. I knew she didn't need it, but she still went, wasting hours out of several days of each week.

Partly, my distaste is from not wanting to let her leave my side. She had fallen asleep the night before while we were out driving late. Optimus had said that she has done that since she was little and asked if I could just stay in my car form till morning and let her sleep. Of course I said yes. She seemed too peaceful to wake up.

Now, it's Tuesday morning, and I'm watching as Everon prepares to climb on her bike and head off. "You could say your sick. Miko said that kids skip school a lot."

"That's Miko, but I don't exactly have a dad who likes to bend the rules. Besides, I like going to school."

"Miko made it sound like it was torture."

"Okay," she says while pulling her backpack over her shoulder. "First of all, Miko is not the best source of info, especially when it comes to school. Secondly, school is the only time I get to feel normal. I'm going to have to give it up eventually, but right now, I need it. I'm not prepared to lose it. Not yet."

I sigh, but I decide that this is an argument that is long since lost. "Alright, alright, fine. But I have one condition to me dropping this issue."

"On what grounds do you…"

I cut her off. "From now till I leave, I get to drive you to and from school." At this point, the other Bots all look up from what they are doing towards us. Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee had been waiting for Everon before heading out to pick up their charges, while Optimus and Ratchet had been casually talking over in the corner.

"If I say no…" she drawls out in a slightly threatening way.

"Well, you would have to listen to me gripe about your being gone at school all the time…but I would have more time to work on the jackhammer…" The last comment hit home, and she relented.

"Fine, you can drive me. But don't be late or I'll ride with one of the others, got it?"

Everyone was totally silent in the room, and I don't think she noticed it. "Perfect. You ready to roll?"

"I would have left already," she tells me as I shift and open my door, "if you hadn't of held me up."

"Well then, let's not waste anytime then." Before she is fully ready, I take off, leaving the others in my dust.

* * *

I've heard of those who are artistic, and those who are scientific. Everon is a shocking combination both.

Watching her work with Ratchet, I can tell that she is extremely advanced in her studies, with a strong understanding of Cybertronian as well as knowing advanced Cybertronian math and scientific reasoning.

For a few hours everyday, Everon and I would go through the ground bridge to work on the Jackhammer with me. Every word I said, every part I told her about, she drank in. She loved learning how my ship worked, and even the mundane patch jobs fascinated her.

I knew I could have finished fixing the Jackhammer a while ago, but I didn't seem to mind. I liked being with her. Just sitting there and explaining how my ship worked.

But other times, when we would just sit together, she would sketch for ages. And the process was well worth the time. Her sketches were amazing, and her paintings were utterly gorgeous. She had paintings hanging all over her walls, as well as large, abstract paintings of each of the Bots, which are in each of their rooms. The paintings show them in both their bipedal and vehicle modes, each equally captivating.

"So," I start as I walk up to Everon where she sat on the couch on one of the platforms. She was intently sketching in her ever-present sketchbook, alternating between adding pencil marks and "How do I get my own portrait?"

Her head snapped up. She had obviously been deep in thought with her sketch and hadn't noticed me approach. "You want a painting done… By me?"

"Who else? Besides, you're paintings are amazing." She looked shy for a bit, as if she didn't know what to say.

"It… It would take a while… The finished product probably wouldn't be for a month." I knew what she meant be this. I would be gone by then.

"Well then, I'll just have to see it when I come back."

The smile she gave me had to have been the best sight I've ever seen.

* * *

"Hey Wheeljack, can I talk to you for a minute?" I turn to see Bulkhead standing behind me. It was Thursday, and Ev and I had come back from working on the Jackhammer a few hours ago. She had eaten and fell right to sleep on my shoulder in mid-conversation.

"Sure, what's up?" I try to not move too much and keep my voice down so not to wake her.

"I mean Wrecker to Wrecker…" He glances at Everon where she lays motionless, save for the light rise and fall of her chest as she breathes lightly. "She wakes up pretty easily." I look at Ev nervously, but I then nod. Carefully, I slip her off of my shoulder into my hand and turn to lay her on the couch on the platform.

When I turn back to him, I say, "Alright, where do you want to talk?"

"Let's try the roof. That way we won't wake her." I nod again and then follow him out. I honestly have no idea what he wants to talk to me about.

When we reach the roof, I can tell that Bulk is a little nervous. "Alright, bud, spit it out. Whatever you need to say, I can handle-"

"What's with you and Ev?"

That is not what I was expecting. "What? What do you mean?"

Bulk sighs. "It's just, the way you are with her, I mean, you just took to her. You and I didn't even get to be good friends for a while, not until a few missions into our time with the Wreckers. You and her, I don't even know how to describe it."

"She's a great girl. I just like hanging out with her." My response is a little defensive. "Do you not like that I'm hanging with her? If your jealous, just say so."

"It's not that, Jackie. I'm happy that you like being with her: Primus knows she needs someone outside of us core Bots to talk to, but the way you two are together, it's like you two have known each other all your lives. Little things, like how every time you see her, you pick her up. And she doesn't even seem upset! We normally get snapped at if we just randomly grab her."

"Where are you going with this, Bulkhead?"

He sighs, then looks me directly in the face, optics suddenly serious. "Do you have feelings for Everon?"

Time seemed to stop and stand still. Thousands of thoughts flew through my head. At first, I thought about how Bulkhead was over exaggerating the situation, that he was just acting the overly protective brother, that Ev and I were just friends… But then I truly began to think.

She may be human in form, but she has a spark that is purer than any other Cybertronian that I have met before. I wanted nothing more than to be with her, but at the same time I don't feel worthy to know her. She gives those around her hope, even in those who have forgotten what it was like to hope.

She gave me hope.

At this point, everything hit me at once. I had feelings for Everon. Not as a sister, more than a friend.

I was in love with Everon.

I then feel to my knees. I looked up to Bulkhead, but I didn't have to answer his question. He could see the answer in my eyes. He knelt next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "If it means anything, I couldn't hope for someone better for her."

"Yeah, Bulk," I tell him with a sad tone. "You could. I'm no good for her… I never will be."

"Jackie…"

"Please don't tell her," I stand up and look him in the eye. He looks like he is about to say something, but there must have been something about my face, which made him stop and merely nod. With that, I stiffly turn and head back inside.

* * *

The next day, I was quiet. I still drove Everon to school, would answer her questions but offer no other effort to converse with her. Eventually, she just stopped talking, and we spent the ride in silence.

After I dropped her off, I went back to base and headed straight for the ground bridge to head to my ship. Everyone looks at me with confused gazes, but only Bulkhead has a bit of understanding behind his gaze.

When Everon gets out of school, I can see her laughing and talking with some of her classmates, some of them guys. I vaguely wonder if she is as interested in them as they are of her…. Then I squash the thought. It's none of my business: I have no claim on her.

She sees me parked off to the side and smiles, genuine excitement on her face. With a quick word to the others and a wave to Jack, Miko, and Raf, she races over to me. Her happiness over seeing me is bittersweet though.

As she plops into my passenger seat, she asks, "So are you feeling any better than this morning?"

While she reaches for the seatbelt, I tell her in a monotone voice, "I finished the repairs on the Jackhammer."

Her entire body freezes. She then snaps, "Then why are you still here?" With that, she pushes open my door to get out and slams it before stalking off. Everyone seemed to hear and stares at her as she storms down the sidewalk towards Jack and Arcee.

After a few words, she hops on behind Jack and they move off down the road. I sigh deeply, hoping she would have taken that better.

Later, much later, Arcee pulls into base with only Jack. After shifting once he's off, she tells all of us, "She wanted some alone time. Took the outside lift to the roof." I look away. I'm currently just standing in the back, away from everyone else.

I can feel their eyes glancing at me, and I lift my head and snap, "What? If you all have something to say, then tell me."

"How long until you plan on leaving?" Bulkhead's voice is lower then usual, sadder.

"Tomorrow."

Arcee stormed up to me and jabbed a finger to my chest. "Either fix this or leave. Not later, not tomorrow, but now." With that, she turned and stalked off.

I look up to everyone else, and though none of them say it, I can tell that they feel the same way as Arcee.

Honestly, I didn't mean for this to happen. I just… don't know how to react. I may love her, but I don't know what to do. I know that I'm going to end up hurting her, and I'd rather it be now then later. Before we get too close.

I head up to the roof. She is sitting of to the side near the ledge, knees drawn to her chest in a familiar fashion with her head on her knees. Not knowing what to say, I walk up to her and sit on the edge to her right. For a while, that's all we do. Just sit there and watch the sun set. No sounds but the wind blowing around us.

Eventually though, I here a light sob beside me, and the wall I had futilely been trying to build finally crumbled.

"C'mere," I tell her, scooping her up from the ground and cradling her to my chassis. The tears kept coming, and I felt at a loss for what to say.

Finally, the tears slowed, and she laid her cheek weakly against my chassis. In a voice barely above a whisper, she pleaded, "Don't leave. Please don't leave me. I don't want to lose anyone else…"

"I'll come back… I just need some time."

"Time for what? And how do you know that you're coming back? How do you know that you won't end up like Skyquake or Megatron or Cliffjumper? How do I know that I won't lose you too?"

I'm quiet for a moment. Then, I pull Everon away from where I cradle her against my chassis. After opening my chassis where my spark is, I reach in and pull out a small shard that was stuck to my spark. When I withdraw it, I hold it out to her.

Looking at it, the shard looked like a long, thin sliver of silver stone, one that was about the length of her hand. "What's this?" she asks, leaning forward to stare at it in wonder.

"Yours," I tell her simply. "It's always been meant to be yours…" She looks puzzled at my comment, but reaches forward to take the stone anyway. The minute she grabs it, though, the stone flashes a brilliant blue, similar to that of a spark. I can feel the shock through my body as she should be feeling as well, but it's more like a quick-spreading warmth with no pain. Then, I the back of my mind, a new sound starts. I can hear a steady thrumming. A sparkbeat. Her sparkbeat.

The only thought running through my head is, _What have you done?_

Clutching the shard to her chest, she looks at me with startled and fearful eyes. "What just happened? I mean… what is this, really?"

"It's called an Airrant in Cybertronian which is loosely translated to an After Stone in English." I sit her down on my shoulder while I try and find the best way to explain to her what I had just done. "Every Cybertronian has one. We carry it with us until we meet someone… someone who we care about more than anything. When we meet them, we offer it to them. If the other takes the stone, it will bond to the recipient's spark. The one who gave the stone can now… sense the recipient's sparkbeat. They can feel if they are in pain or if they hurt. So long as the recipient keeps the stone with them.

"The connection is one way, unless the other Cybertronian gives them their After Stone, then they can sense each other. The bond is one of the most sacred bonds between Cybertronians."

Everon is quiet, stunned, as she stares at the shard in her hand. Slowly and unsurely, she asks, "Why is it called an After Stone?"

My response comes without hesitation or falter. "Because there is no one after you give your Airrant away. Family love can form, but you can never truly love anyone once your After Stone is gone. No one but the one you gave the stone to."

All of a sudden, Everon starts to hit my head from where she sits on my shoulder. She hit and kicked and screamed and cried at me. I grabbed her and held her in front of me while she flailed uselessly, trying to get free.

"Why?!" she screamed at me, tears streaming down her face. "Why condemn yourself to love me? I'm human, Wheeljack! I'm no good for you. I'll never be anything compared to you! And I will die long before you could call yourself old! My emotions are out of check, I can't fight in comparison to any Cybertronian, and I'm the daughter, the heir, to the deceased leader of the Decepticons! So why me?!"

At this point, I'm angry. I have never been angry before with her until this moment. "Will you stop that!" I scream at her. I sit her not very carefully on the ground and begin to pace while trying to contain how utterly pissed I am at the moment.

Turning back to her, where she defiantly stands on the spot where I left her, I begin to speak again, hints of anger and frustration still lacing my tone. "Why do you always underestimate yourself? You only see the bad, never the good. You have no idea how much I crave your presence, how I just love to simply feed off the way you can light up a room. Your beyond smart and passionate and talented at near everything! What is it going to take for you to see that? I don't expect you to love me back, but…" I'm getting overly frustrated again, so I just stop to take a breath.

Then Everon, who is just as mad and frustrated as me, yells, "You are just as blind as me then if you think that I don't love you back!" Her anger immediately dissipates, followed by an intense sadness in her eyes.

* * *

We ended up just sitting next to each other, occasionally apologizing and making promises of a future we were equally unsure of.

* * *

**Finally finished! So yes, this is going to be a Wheeljack x OC fanfiction. I intend to work him more into this story then the series did. Anyway, please tell me how you like this pairing! Any thoughts would be great.**


	12. Chapter 10

Sitting on the platform, I was lost in quiet contemplation. Everyone, including Jack, Miko, and Raf were here, milling about the base, yet I sat alone in peaceful seclusion thinking about the past few days.

Wheeljack had left yesterday. The goodbyes had been simple, and he had promised to each of us that he would come back soon. Not when, but soon.

I held the shard, his After Stone, he had given me in my hand, the long black rope cord hanging loosely around my neck. I had looped the cord around the shard's center, so the pointed ends stayed pointing up and down. When I let the shard fall from my hand, it hung to where the bottom point was about an inch above my naval. No one had yet to notice the shard, and no one questioned it. As of right now, it was a new jewelry piece that I would wear with my mother's dog tags.

And I have no intention of telling anyone what the shard truly is until Wheeljack comes home.

My thoughts are interrupted when a loud voice begins to boom over the comm system. "Prime! Prime!"

My dad and the others begin to converge around Ratchet's computer system. I jump up and begin to stroll over to our more human friendly platforms near the computer. "Aww, Fowler did you miss me."

"Sorry, Ever, wrong Prime. I need the big Bot."

With a cheeky grin, I add teasingly, "I don't think you're his type."

Some of the others began to snicker behind me as Fowler yells, "What?! I… Where is your father!"

"Everon," my dad says with a slightly stern tone, but smile playing on his lips, "Stop antagonizing you're godfather." I give him a mock salute as he then directs his attention towards the comm link where Fowler is grumbling to himself about 'kids these days having no respect' or something like that. "Special Agent Fowler, to what do we owe—"

"What else?" Fowler snaps. "Cons. I chased them off with some hard ordinance, but not before they blew me out of the sky!"

With a slight laugh, Miko says, "Again?"

"Seriously, I just fixed that thing less than two weeks ago!" I yelled. Jack, Miko, and Raf look at me in surprise. With a sigh I say, "After everything that you've learned about me, is me being able to fix a jet that surprising?"

Fowler continues to speak. "They tried to smash and grab the D.N.G.S.!" This causes me to jolt in surprise.

"The… whatzit?" Arcee asks looking a bit confused.

"Dynamic Nuclear—"

"Generation System," I interject causing all eyes to turn to me. "A.K.A. the D.N.G.S." Seeing that all eyes are still looking a bit confused towards me, I continue. "Whereas most family members give money as gifts, I get classified military project folders from Fowler which he allows me to write in my input on. I've even worked on this system. Of course, it was alone at night with Fowler telling the other scientists that I was a finicky genius who refused to have anyone in the room while I worked."

My dad responded, "I'm not sure I should be pleased to see you working on advanced projects, or worried that you are working on classified government projects…"

"Anyway," Fowler interjects, "it's a prototype energy source that I'm currently transporting to the coast for testing."

"Psh," Ratchet comments. "That's absurd. Why would Starscream bother with such primitive technology."

"I'm guessing to make a big, bad primitive weapon of mass destruction! If this baby were to meltdown, it would irradiate this state and the four next door."

"Uhh… Did Agent Fowler say which state he was currently in?" Raf asked nervously.

"I'm a sitting duck here Prime. I need you to open up a bridge and send the D.N.G.S. to its destination before the Cons come back for it."

"Not gonna happen, Fowler," I tell him. "Volatile weapons and ground bridges are a big no-no. If the D.N.G.S. were to detonate during ground bridge transfer, we would be saying goodbye to all fifty states and beyond."

"You got any better ideas?"

"Actually, I think I do… Whose up for a road trip?"

* * *

I climb up into the cab of my father's vehicle mode. Loading the D.N.G.S. into his storage container had gone smoothly, and I had already finished checking to make sure all of the systems were still properly intact from Fowler's crash. Looking to my left, I can see Fowler rubbing his hands together, wearing a look of excitement as he reaches for my dad's steering wheel.

"Ah, ah, ah," my dad tells him. "No need Agent Fowler. I will handle the driving."

My godfather crosses his arms and looks like he is starting to pout. "It's gonna be a long trip."

With that, my dad fires up his engines, and Bulkhead and Bumblebee follow suit from where they flank him to the left. "Autobots, roll out!"

* * *

The drive started out slow. No Cons, no nothing chasing us. Just me and Fowler, sitting in the cab as my dad drove with Bee and Bulk tailing us. I had already pulled my sketchbook out and the only sound that could be heard was my pencil on the paper.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

Well, that and Fowler's random questions.

I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing an all black, with a tight tank top, and leather pants, boots, and a motorcycle jacket, one with a snap over collar that zips off center. My pants were tight worn in enough to allow easy movement, and my boots zipped up the sides and had a tall stiletto heel. My hands are even decked out in leather fingerless riding gloves, though that was becoming a habit because of the nasty scar that scraplet had left on my hand.

As for my hair, I had it pulled back into a tight braid, which showed off my highlights. For makeup, my eyes had a silvery black shadow, which jutted off to the sides like wings and my eyes were edged in black liner. A light tan blush added dimension to my face, while lips were a dark red that looked almost black. "What? Can't a girl act like one of those top secret agents for a day?"

"You watch way too many movies." I roll my eyes at him and look back to my sketch. The sketch is of Wheeljack, of course. I'm planning out the painting I was making for him. I intend to have it done before he comes back, but nothing I plan seems to quite suit him to me.

_"We are locked onto your location, Optimus,"_ Ratchet says over the comm link. _"Barring any complications, you should reach the drop off zone by sundown."_

Before I could respond, I hear my dad's horn going off, and I look over to see Fowler hitting the horn repeatedly due to an old, slow pickup truck in front us. "Move it, Gramps!" he yells.

"Shesh, road rage much? The poor car looks like it can barely drive as it is. Is that really necessary?"

"I know for a fact that you aren't one of those textbook drivers, Ever." Bee chooses this moment to move out in front of us, and I watch to look as he and Bulk maintain a close formation. After being quiet for a moment, Fowler says, "You know, you're saving my bacon here Primes."

"You are most welcome, Agent Fowler," My dad tells him while I softly smile at Fowler's attempt to be nice towards my dad. He has never really been comfortable with the Bots, and he probably would have requested a transfer by now if it hadn't been for me. These moments are ones that I love…

"But I wouldn't need your help if you and the Cons would of just stuck to tearing up your own corner of the galaxy."

…And then he has to go and stick his foot in his mouth.

"Are you suggesting that no evil existed on your world before we arrived?" my dad asked calmly.

"Well… yeah. But it was a…different kind of evil." I roll my eyes as Fowler tried to change the subject. "How about some music? You look like a Nashville kind of guy."

"Everon can choose. I find it best just to go along with whatever music she is in the mood for." I smirk and then reach for the dial, but that's when I notice movement out of one of the cab's side mirrors.

"Scrap. We have company," I tell them.

Fowler looks out the window and yells, "That's the one! That's the Con who shot me down. Who is it? Wingnut? Dingbat? Skyguy?"

I've unbuckled and climbed into the backseat of the cab. When I reply to Fowler's comments, I say, "For starter's, that's a little insulting. Secondly, those are definitely not any Cons I've ever met before…"

I toss the handheld radio comm link to Fowler as I go back to grabbing my equipment. _"Watch your rear views," _Bulk says over the radio.

"Everon," my father says wearily, "I don't think it is quite necessary for you to start grabbing your equipment just yet."

"Unless you want the team to blow it's cover on a public road, I need to be ready to hold off the Cons. It's light artillery, enough to tell them to back off. Plus, I doubt that they will make any serious moves once I'm out in the open."

"I still don't—"

"Daddy, I'll be fine," tell him reassuringly as I strap on a holster belt. "Ratchet and I designed these together. They give off minor stinger shots. Like weaker versions of Bee's blasters." He sighs and doesn't argue anymore knowing that he wasn't going to be able to stop me.

"I kind of agree with your dad, Ever," Fowler says.

"Well, I'm not giving you these things to use, and a gun is completely useless. You're going to have to accept it." On that note, I climb back up to the cab and sit back down, poised to climb out of the cab if need be.

"_Feeling a little constricted without the use of my fists her, boss,"_ Bulk radios in. I stick my head out the window and see three green and black colored cars flanking Bulk's sides and rear.

"Those definitely are not regulation Decepticon colors… I highly doubt Screamer repainted the Vehicons. At least not those colors."

"Remain in Vehicular mode unless absolutely necessary," my dad says over the comm link. The cars start moving around Bulk.

"A whole team of Cons…" Fowler states.

_"What?"_ Ratchet says over the comm link. _"I'm not picking up any Decepticon signals. They must be utilizing a cloaking technology…"_

"I seriously doubt that these are Cons," I say. "This is too out of their playbook… even the target, though, devastating the effects, does not fit there M.O., especially with Starscream at the helm."

Just as I finish, one of the green cars pulls up alongside the cab and in front of Bee, blocking him from passing. Another car pulls up on Fowler's side, and as the car's sunroof opens, out comes a human wearing a face mask and pointing a high tech gun at Fowler. "Pull over!" Before anyone else can react, I pull one of my guns and shoot out their tire.

"Well I'll be dipped!" Fowler says.

As the car rolls down the cliff, I radio back to base. "The attackers are humans, not Cons!"

As the others back at base start discussing the idea of human attackers, Fowler comments, "Who are these guys?"

"Autobots," my dad announces over the comm system, "Maintain vehicular cover, and use minimal force. Disarmament only." Another car tried to come up my side, but Bee quickly blocked them, and after a few hits, the car spun out and fell back out of view after it flipped over a few times.

The road began to twist, and Fowler looked as if he were about to puke. "If you puke on me, I will gut you, godfather or no."

"Could use some air…" Fowler asked. My dad immediately rolled down the window and Fowler stuck his head out for air. Then Fowler announced, "Prime, bare right!"

My dad immediately moved to the right, knocking the car next to him off the road and down the sloped Cliffside, but apparently the hitchhiker who had jumped on was still there. Not wanting to lose our cargo, I yell, "I got him!" and climb out the window before my dad or Fowler could protest.

Scaling the side of my dad's vehicle mode, I soon reach his trailer hitch and see the hitchhiker trying to detach the trailer. "Not so fast, bud." As he jumps, startled, and looks towards me, I kick him square in the jaw. As he starts to falls backwards, I grab his hand then punch him in the stomach. Hard.

As he is coughing, only managing to stay on the trailer because I have a grip on his hand, I twist him around and pull his arm up into a painful position. "Now you're going to answer some questions…" As I say this, he tries to jerk from my grasp.

The motion pulls us both forward, and in order to keep from falling, I have to let go of him, and he tumbles down the Cliffside. I'm left doing one of those backwards arm circles, trying to regain my balance. Once I'm sure I won't fall, I mumble, "Scrap." Then I move back around to the cab and swing back through the window with a graceful motion.

As I settle back into the seat, an unfamiliar voice comes over the handheld radio._ "I do hope you take better care of the D.N.G.S. then you do your captives."_

Grabbing the radio, my godfather retorts, "Special Agent William Fowler, here. Identify yourself!"

"_Now this doesn't sound like the girl who just took out one of my best men. She seems a little young for this type of work, doesn't she? Still, I'd like to speak to her if that would be alright."_

"No, it would not be—Hey!"

I had snatched the radio from his hands and gave him a look before speaking. "Excuse him, he is a bit… protective of me."

With a chuckle, he responds, "_That is quite alright my dear. Now, if I were to get an introduction, I would be more inclined to tell you who I am."_

I grimace at the idea of telling him my name, but I quickly spit out into the radio, "Shadow Tronus." After taking my finger off the button, I tell the shocked looking Fowler, "There was no way I would tell him my real name."

"_Hmm. I'm sure that's an alias… but it will do. Now, how about an alias for your alias? I am Silas. But of greater consequence to you, _we_ are Mech. Fair warning, since I admire the skill you have shown: we will be helping ourselves to your device, even if it means inflicting casualties."_

"Is that so? Good luck trying. But tell me, Si, what's the market price of a D.N.G.S. these days? I'm curious to see what my pet project is worth…" I immediately take my finger off the button and slap a hand over my mouth while my dad sighed, and Fowler face palmed. "Scrap, scrap, scrap…" I mutter.

"_So, you are more than a skilled fighter, I see. I'm quite impressed with you, my dear. But tell me, what makes you think that we intend to sell it?"_ I freeze, suddenly panicked. It was even more imperative that we keep this device from Silas then ever. _"There is a war brewing between the new world order, and the newest. The victor will be the side armed with the most innovative technology. If you ever decide to side with the victor, I would hold a position for you. A high-ranking one."_

"Psh. Get in line. Better men than you have offered me more power then you could ever dream of, and I turned them down. I'm not really the power hungry type."

"_Then what are you? I highly doubt that you are an official government agent such as Special Agent Fowler, so what type of person are you?"_

I pause for a minute, thinking. When I speak my voice is blunt. "I'm a soldier. A soldier without a nation. Plain and simple."

"_Very well, my de—"_

"Call me my dear one more tie and I will reach through this fragging radio and strangle you!" The line was silent after this. "Remind me never to take a job as a hostage negotiator…"

"You did fine, till the end at least," Fowler told me with a smirk on his face. I responded by sticking my tongue out at him.

Looking up, I can see the helicopter hovering ever so closely to the top of the trailer bed. "I have and idea, but you are going to have to trust me. And try not to jerk around to much while driving."

Clanking could be heard coming from the back of the trailer, and I look back just in time to see the doors to the truck fly open. If I'm going to go through with the plan, I have to work fast. The doors opening means that Arcee was finally coming into play, and we were almost out of moves.

"So Si," Fowler says into the radio. "Think Mech has all the radical tech?" I heard before I saw Arcee launch out of the back of the truck, followed by the sounds and sight of some of the Mech cars crashing behind us with bulkhead narrowly dodging the crash and then an exploding car. "Later, Si."

Needing to go, now, I snatch the radio from Fowler. "There's another in the back, plus I promise to be Careful! Love ya both, bye!" Quickly shimming out the open window before they can protest, I climb back to the little alcove between the truck cab and the trailer. Radio still in hand, I begin to speak into it. "Hey, Si, if I'm going to join up, the pay better be good."

"_Ah, Miss Tronus, I see you have come to your senses. How shall you prefer that I pick you up?"_

"Just open the door and move close to the trailer bed roof. I can handle the rest." Watching as the helicopter lowered itself towards the top of the trailer, I quickly climbed to the top of the trailer and gave a running jump, grabbing tightly to the landing skids. Then, as they opened the door, I made a graceful swinging arc, which allowed me to toss myself into the helicopter and land steadily on my feet.

While they closed the door, I took note of the other agents sitting in the cockpit. Each dawned a facemask, which had bug looking eye covers, and from their heavy artillery, I knew each was most likely heavily trained in military tactics. And they all had their eyes trained on me.

The only one who stood out was a man sitting in one of the pilot seat. Even with his snow-white hair, he was every bit the image of an intimidating mercenary as one might imagine. He had a good bit of muscle mass, and his military fatigues looked more distinguished compared to his uniformed men. His face held a look that showed both a stern attitude and immense cunning and experience. His most defining feature though was a long, dark pinkish scar across the top of his nose and down the left side of his face.

He hands me a headset, which I quickly slip on so that we can converse. "My, my, I may have seen you down on the truck, but I have to say that up close you are not quite what I expected, Miss Tronus. Are they truly starting people out this young nowadays? It's been a few years since I have been in the military you see."

"Call me Shadow, and nineteen isn't that young for mercenaries," I tell him, the lie flowing off my tongue ever so casually. Though it's not my fondest skill, my silver tongue is a trait I earned from my deceased father, and though I hate to admit it, it does come in handy.

"Well," he says as I make my way to crouch between him and his copilot. "Most mercenaries your age have a master teaching them and aren't working for the government."

"My master's dead," I say coldly, channeling enough emotion to play the part. "Died during a job, shot by some soldiers, and I was caught in the process. Since he hadn't taught me the details about who his contacts were, I literally had nothing. Luckily, the government had no paperwork on me, so I lied and said I was seventeen, played up the 'child soldier' act, and they offered to let me work with them to avoid jail time or a foster home."

"And you are here now because?..."

"They bore me. I'm not very good at the strict discipline, goody goody thing. You sounded way more interesting, and hopefully pay better."

He smirked and replied, "That I do. And since you know the inner workings of the D.N.G.S., I take it you are advanced in your studies."

I shrug and reply casually, "Semi-photographic memory. Also, as far as the details of the transfer go, though, I don't know much. All they briefed was 'protect the project and keep away from enemy hands' or some scrap like that. Mainly that we are headed to an undisclosed drop off point."

He simply nodded and said, "Very well. We will discuss your employment more later. Now, back to business, shall we?"

As we turn back to the convoy, we watch as they go off road, down into a tunnel alongside an oncoming train. Three Mech vehicles were in hot pursuit, but the tunnel entrance collapsed just before they could enter. I knew of this part of the plan, but I could never tell Silas that.

He smirked and stated, "Tactical error."

I played along and responded, "Only one way out." As the Bots came out of the tunnel though, a major setback came up. Flying in formation around Silas' helicopter, I could see several of Starscream's Seeker Armada flanking us. "Well, this isn't good."

The jets proceeded to fly ahead of us, and then launch several missiles at the Bots below. Silas' expression was one of shock. "The military fired on one their own?!"

"Somehow I doubt that those are part of the military…" I tell him wearily.

The trailer then detached from Optimus vehicle form as he tried to make a quick maneuver. "Sir, the D.N.G.S!" The copilot yelled. Then we watched as the missiles hit the trailer, effectively exploding on impact. _Scrap, this isn't good. I could kick Starscream in the aft for this…_ "Sir, I'm not reading any radiation…"

Silas looked at me, but I kept my eyes locked on the sight of the explosion. "That's… impossible," I say in my best-shocked voice. "I oversaw the loading of it myself… it's why they placed me on the convoy, it had to have gone off." I knew the switch had been blown, so I had to give my best performance so that Silas wouldn't suspect anything.

"The D.N.G.S. didn't melt down," the copilot continued.

"No, it did not…" Silas says in a monotone voice.

As if things couldn't get any worse, the Cons decide to shift once the Bots had been herded to a steep cliff face with nowhere else to go. Soon, the Bots follow suit in the transformation. Acting surprised, I yell, "Holy…! I was riding in one of those!"

"So the rumors are true," Silas says, turning to me with a creepy smile on his face. "Living technology stands before us… though perhaps not for very long."

"Something tells me that taking on them wouldn't be very easy…" I say, masking my instincts yelling at me to start panicking. After Optimus sat Fowler onto a rock ledge, we watched as the two sides begin to run at each, their intent of fighting obvious.

As we circled the fight, watching in silence, the pilot decided to speak up. "Sir, if the D.N.G.S. wasn't in the truck…"

"Yes, that," Silas replied. He reached forward and pushed the button on the comm system. "Special Agent Fowler, you lead a charmed life walking among Titans."

"_Why don't you come on down and I'll introduce you? And in the mean time, why don't you return my charge."_

"All in good time. As for your charge, consider this her resignation from the military. She seems quite content with working with us, and she is certainly a fine addition. I plan on keeping her around. In the meantime, I might be wondering how the D.N.G.S. vanished into thin air without a trace."

Fowler was quiet on his end, no sarcastic response coming through. I knew, of course: the D.N.G.S. had been transferred onto the train when the bots went through the tunnel.

And unfortunately, I think Silas knew this, too.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a train to catch." With that, our helicopter changed directions towards the train, which had already managed a decent head start. When we approached the train, Silas simply said, "Immobilize them." Right after he gave the order, one of his men stood at the door of the helicopter and shot some device at on of the train cars.

Soon, an electric current could be seen running down the length of the train. "What is that doing?" I ask.

"That electric current should take out any of the military personal on the train, making our entrance easier." He turned to look at me. "Since you are the closest thing to an expert on this device, would you mind checking it's integrity before we move it?"

I roll my eyes. "You think I would have let you move such a volatile device without letting me check it first? Yeah, just get close to the train, and I will go check it out while you try and land this bird. Unless your pilot needs help landing this thing." Silas smirks, but I bet that the pilot was glaring at me from behind his mask.

"We should be just fine. Take the radio just in case, though. Fowler shouldn't be able to hear over this one." I grab the new radio he offers me with a professional nod, then move towards the door, his men watching my every movement. Silas may seem overly eager to add me to his ranks, but his men definitely were yet to see my worth.

"Oh," Silas says before I reach the door. "One more thing: I have another job I want you to complete in order to prove your worth…"

* * *

After Silas briefs me, we move to land close to the train roof. I step towards the door and move to jump. As I jump though, the train suddenly shifts and goes down another track. I skid down the edge of the train and nearly fall off if it weren't for the fact that I caught the edge of the train. As I grab the roof edge and pull myself safely up, I grab my radio and yell into it. "Okay, what part of you being just fine to land that thing did you misunderstand?! I nearly fell off the freaking train!"

"_I was wondering the same thing. Apparently, we had an issue with a hacker. The issue, however, has been resolved, so no further issues should occur."_

"Sure… Over and out." After securing the radio back to my holster belt, I stand up on the steadily moving train and saunter my way to the train roof's open hatch as if I were walking on flat, stable ground. Once I reach the hatch, I squat and peer inside, and the sight I see makes me face-palm.

"What, in the Allspark, are you doing on this train?! And Jack, did you not learn from the last time Miko had an ax that she should not be allowed near them at anytime!" I remove my hand from my face to glare down at the two in the train car below me while I remained squatted in front of the hatch.

""But…" Jack starts.

"Don't even start Jack. Just get off the train. Now. I'll handle them, but for now, go, or if you can't, pretend you don't know me."

"_Shadow, is everything alright? We are about to land and you have yet to enter the train."_

"Scrap." Grabbing the radio, I send them one last glare before addressing Silas. "Seems we hit a snag. Also, I don't think that your little stun gun works as well as you think."

"_What are you talking about? Did one of the soldiers manage to remain conscious? If so, just take him out."_

"I would have already done that," I tell him with a bit of a snap to my tone, "if I were dealing with a soldier and not two kids, one of which is wielding a freaking fire ax!"

The radio was silent for a minute s the helicopter landed, then a confused Silas asked, _"…What?"_

"Send your men to see for yourself. Honestly, though, I don't know how I feel about fighting a bunch of kids."

Silas' men approached, and I stood and gestured towards the open hatch. As they peered over inside, they were met with met with the sight of Miko screaming, "You want a slice of this? Well, do ya!" while swinging the ax.

Jack merely responded unsurely while keeping a distance from the crazy Asian girl, "What she said!" I buried my face in my hand again while the men exchanged what I could only assume to be puzzled glances.

Silas' voice came over the radio. _"I don't care who they are: take them out and retrieve the objective."_

I grabbed my radio and snapped back, "They are kids! Barely younger than me, and not even mercenaries. You can't expect us too…" I looked up to see the men poising there guns into the hatch. _I guess it's now or never…_

With a well placed kick, I knock the gun from the hand of the man closest to me, then spin around close to the ground and knock his feet out from under him. While the others move in towards me, I lunge.

Within the next minute, all four men were laying on the ground in pain, while I turn my fighting stance towards the sound of slow clapping near the waiting helicopter. "Bravo," Silas says slow and dangerously. "Seems the mercenary has a bit of a heart left afterall… too bad. You would have made a fine addition."

I smirk and retort, "Sorry, killing kids isn't really in my repertoire. You and I can still have a dance though…" I never left my fighting stance or took my eyes from him, keeping in mind where his men were positioned as they limped towards the helicopter.

He smirked back. "Another time, perhaps. I would love to have a tumble with you, my dear." His last comment made me sneer at him and release an almost feral growl in the back of my throat. His grin only grew, taking on a feral nature as he backed towards the helicopter. "Such a fiery one… I wonder who the person is that you get it from…"

"He's dead."

"That's quite a shame…" He looks up to the mountain ridge, and I follow his gaze to see a familiar Bot running along before transforming to his vehicle mode in order to keep up. Silas sneers, then hops into the helicopter before taking off.

I relax my stance and move to jump down into the train car where Miko and Jack were. "You guys really need to avoid these kinds of situations…"

"What was that all about?" Jack asks me as he moves to look out the side of the train car at the retreating Mech helicopter.

Miko latches onto his arm and says, "Whoa. We're pretty fierce."

"More like Ev is pretty fierce."

"Same difference."

I'm about to ask them what they were doing on the train, when I suddenly see Silas fire something from his retreating helicopter. We watch as the device explodes on an upcoming piece of track, destroying it. "Oh, we are so fragged."

Jack grabbed his phone and began to talk worriedly into it. "Ratchet, Mech blew the train tracks!" Miko began to sort of dance nervously in place while I looked around helplessly. "You need to bridge us out of here, the soldiers too."

"_We lost access to the train data," _I can hear Ratchet saying over the phone. _"I can't bridge you back without your coordinates."_ The three of us then exchange worried looks.

"Maybe we should jump?" Miko suggests.

"At ninety miles an hour?!" Jack yells back at her.

"It's the impact, or the meltdown, take your pick."

Jack looks up at the ceiling with a look of exasperation and defeat. "Oh, what were we thinking volunteering for this."

"Next time, you need to do a better job of talking us out of these situations."

"Next time…" Jack says quietly. We knew what his tone meant.

Miko sticks her head back out of the sidecar door. "We can buy ourselves a few more seconds if we're in the back of the train, right?"

"Guys," Jack says to both of us, "At least we're in this together."

Miko takes a step towards him, and then suddenly snatches his phone. "Raf, this is important! Make sure Bulkhead gets my guitar…"

"Don't read the will just yet…" I tell them just as my dad comes speeding along the side of the train.

As he reaches the engine, he transforms and continues to sprint before grabbing the speeding train. Digging his feet in the ground, he begins to slow the train's motion, knocking up rocks and debris as he is dragged with the slowing train. He yells from the exertion of holding back the speeding engine, showing just how much of a task this is for the titan. Just before we reach the damaged tracks, though, he manages to get the train to come to a complete stop.

Miko, Jack, and I release the walls which we had latched onto during the bumpy stop, then begin to yell with excitement. We all then turn our heads skyward towards the hovering helicopter, which eventually heads off away from the scene.

Once out of sight, I jump from the train to my dad while Jack and Miko bicker behind me over something unimportant. I reach up to him, and he returns the gesture by placing his finger next to my hand in our familiar gesture. Then, with a worried expression, I think back to the plan Silas told me of before I left the helicopter.

Optimus sees my look. "What is wrong, Everon?"

With a nervous response, I tell him, "I think I just made a deal with the Devil. And, I'm afraid I might need to honor it…"


	13. Ratchet

Everyone has always seen me as gruff and angry. If you could comprehend my life, you would understand why I am this way. I am a medic. I went to school, spent years working in Cybertronian hospitals, even becoming the head medic of one of Cybertron's most premiere and advanced facilities. My work was my life, and I was content with the life that I had, helping others and doing my very best at my job.

Then the war began.

I had known Optimus before the war. I had always admired the younger mech's beliefs and pure spark, so when he implored me to join him, to help his Autobots as his head field medic, I said yes.

Life in the war had been more grueling than I ever could have imagined. I had in the beginning overseen the running and procedures in some of the Autobots' largest field hospitals, with dozens and dozens of other medics working with me. We would tend for our wounded, and, because of our ideologies, we would tend for our wounded enemies as well.

Both sides acknowledged the sort of neutrality that came with a field hospital: it's an understood trait that you don't touch the medics who were helping the injured, those who could not fight back. Unfortunately, the Decepticons threw that courtesy out the window. I lost so many fellow doctors when they targeted our field hospitals, and I was surprised that I wasn't among the ones lost.

Soon, medics were assigned to squads or smaller, more well hidden field hospitals, and helping the enemy's wounded decreased dramatically. This change took its toll on both sides. After the incident with Bumblebee, I asked Optimus if I could continue on by following his squad, which he readily approved.

So for the next century or so, not a long time for Cybertronians, I followed Optimus and treated him and any others on our squad until Cybertron went dark, and we were forced to leave our home world. After a series of events, we ended up here, on Earth, working alongside the American government.

This is what led to us meeting Fowler and Everon's mother, and of course the creation of Everon.

To say that I was ecstatic would have been an understatement. Cybertronian births were far and few between before the war, and with the war, they had become virtually nonexistent. Even with all my experience prior to the war, I had never witnessed the birth of a Cybertronian before. Even though the sparkling would be half human, I vowed that I would dedicate the best of my abilities to seeing this pregnancy go through without complications.

I began to pour over both Cybertronian texts and human research on sparkling and child births and the following health care needed. We had no idea how the sparkling would be formed, whether it would appear human or Cybertronian, and it's internal anatomy was completely unknown.

Still, the thought of bringing life into this world fueled me with a new vigor, one that had nearly been lost during this endless war. I gave the child's mother regular checkups, and in my spare time, I became an expert in the in and outs of pregnancies for both races, including any complications that could occur. When it became apparent that I would be too large to complete most of the procedures, however, I immediately began to teach Arcee who was surprisingly receptive to the idea.

The greatest joy during my time preparing for the birth was when we took the first official sonogram of the child. A little girl, curled up as if she were asleep, with a soft, steady sparkbeat. Not a heart, but a spark.

The pregnancy had been nerve-wracking and messy, as I had expected it to be, with Bulkhead fainting at some point during the procedures. Fortunately, no complications came except for the expected passing of the little girl's mother.

I spent a good hour scanning the sparkling, (I couldn't seem to call her a child in my mind) searching for any issues or complications, while everyone, especially the new sire, hovered about with worry. Optimus had been even more of a nervous wreck than I. He may seem wise beyond his years, but many don't know how relatively few years he has compared to most. He was young, especially young to be a new father compared to most other Cybertronians.

The only one who seemed to not share our collective nervousness was the sparkling before us. She sat quietly, occasionally cooing to herself or giving a happy squeal when someone leaned in to look at her. Mostly, she either whimpered and reached for Optimus until he finally reached forward to let her grasp his large finger, or she would look up at me with an open mouth and wonder in her unique, silvery eyes.

Once all my scans and checks were done, I motioned Fowler forward to pick up the young Everon. Turning to everyone, I give them the basics of what I learned. "From my scans, she appears to be in excellent health," which earned sighs of relief, "But we will still need to monitor her just in case. I don't want anything to catch us by surprise… her biology is quite unique, so I don't know what to expect."

"What exactly do you mean by unique?" Arcee asks as her partner moves forward to stare and make faces towards Everon. She began to giggle wildly in Fowler's arms.

**At least someone thinks your funny, Cliff,** Bumblebee tells the red Bot.

Before he retort though, we all turn our attention towards the small bundle in Fowler's arms. **Cliff!** she yells out of nowhere, pointing towards Cliffjumper.

We were all silent and slack jawed until Fowler stuttered, "Did… did she just speak bleep? Please tell me my goddaughter does not speak bleep, because I have no idea of what she just said."

I sigh. "No, she merely mimicked Bumblebee," I tell the shocked government agent while gesturing towards said Bot.

"Bumblebee!" Everon yells and points to the yellow and black Bot this time.

"Wait," Bulkhead said. "How is she speaking? Even we can't do that when we were just born…"

"Her biology is a blend of both human and Cybertronian. Things such as her skeleton have Cybertronian aspects: it's made of protoform metal, such as most of our structures were as children. Within time, it will harden and her bones will be near impossible to break. She also has enhanced senses, and what appears to be an inactive T-cog. I don't think she will ever be able to use it to transform into anything, though."

"As for her speaking…" Optimus begins.

"Her mind is the perfect blend of Cybertronian circuits and human brain matter. She can store infinitely more knowledge than the normal Cybertronian, nearly photographic, but her mind will be as free-thinking and creative as a human's. She will probably be able to speak fluently in English quite soon…" then mumbling to myself while watching the child, "I should probably teach her Cybertronian…"

"Will she always be this small?" Cliff asks as he leans in to smile at Everon who squeals and claps her hands while yelling, **Cliff, Cliff! **He then places a hand on his chest and tells her, "Cliff." She looks confused for a second and tries out the name on her tongue. She then giggles and continues clapping her name while chanting his name in English.

"His ego did not need this…" Arcee says as she crosses her arms and looks at her partner who was grinning like a fiend.

"Unfortunately, I believe so," Is ay to answer Cliffjumper's question. "And though I'm not sure… I believe her life cycle will also follow a normal human's." I take in each of their faces, which had immediately fallen at this fact. Looking at my friend last, I say, "I'm sorry, Optimus."

Everon noticed the sad turn that everyone seemed to be taking. She looked to her sire and said, "Optimus?" He looks at her, her eyes shining with worry and look that seemed to ask why everyone was so sad.

Out of character, I kneel next to the girl, and while looking at her, I try to smile while I point to Optimus and say, "Daddy."

She looks between the two of us, then she smiles, looks at Optimus and yells "Daddy!" followed by a slew of giggles. She looks back at me, and to this day, I have no idea how she learned this, but she said with a soft smile, "Teacher."

I did become her teacher after that. I would talk to her and explain everything to her, as well as answer all her question, no matter how frivolous. My patience with her astounded everyone, even myself, but there was something about her innocent curiosity mixed with her wild emotions that made me want to teach her. She had fire, she had passion, and in a way, she reminded me of myself, before the war.

Then she was taken. She snuck out while I was supposed to be watching her, and Megatron discovered her. No matter what anyone said, no one could convince me that it wasn't my fault. I slipped into a dark place, one worse than before Everon's birth. Back then, I had been losing my hope, but with her birth, I had placed all my renewed hopes in her.

Without her, I had no hope left in my soul. I had failed my student and lost myself in the process.

All of my spare time focused into searching for her. I had so much I wished to teach her, so much she should have been able to see about her Cybertronian heritage, and if the Decepticons had hurt her…

I was losing faith in ever finding her when Optimus reported seeing her with Knock Out at the Decepticon mine. All of our spirits were renewed on that day, but in the back of my head, all I could think of is one thing.

Knock Out was the Decepticon's head medic and scientist. Though he is no Shockwave and had an enormous ego, he was a highly skilled physician, one that Optimus had described as seeming to be close friends with Everon… I feared, deep down, that my student might have found a new teacher.

My fears were only reignited when she returned to us. My inquisitive pupil now seemed to be more highly taught than I could have expected at her age. She knew advanced mathematics, and she could explain the science behind many medical processes, ones that I had no way of showing her with the tools I had available.

Our lessons became shorter and less frequent, coming to a point where I wouldn't tell her to meet me, she would just come to me in between her school time and increasing time spent with Cliffjumper. She would ask what I was doing and try to provide input, but I just brushed her off.

I am not proud of my behavior, especially thinking back to the look of disappointment she would wear when I act this way, but I felt useless. What good is a teacher to someone who has already been taught?

So, she began to come and just sit with me, playing her music loudly in her speakers while she sketched silently, occasionally sending me a sad glance. One day, she was trying to get me to talk with her about a system's calibrations I had been working on. Eventually, she said, "Every time Knock Out did th—"

I snapped. "Well, I'm not your teacher, and unlike your Knock Out, my way of doing things are different than his and I could care less about his techniques, so if you mind, let me work in peace."

After a moment, I realized what I had done. "Everon, I…" But the look on her face made me taper off. She looked enraged, her eyes cast down at the sketchbook before her. Since her return, her moods were more unpredictable, and instead of being upset or sad when someone was mad with her, she became livid.

A trait that she unfortunately inherited from her father.

"Is that what this is about?" she ground out, venom laced in each word. "Your upset that Knock Out taught me things? What else was I supposed to do on that fragging ship! I was interested in medicine and science, so he taught me a few things. Most of what I know I learned from watching him work since I was his charge whenever Megatron was otherwise engaged! He is like a brother to me, but he will never be my teacher, Ratchet!"

With that, her face suddenly softened, "You're my teacher. You taught me to speak, to write in Cybertronian. You gave me my basis for learning in math and science. Everything I learned with Knock Out never would have been possible without you. You are my teacher, and I'm your apprentice."

Her last few words were almost whispered, and I could barely respond. "I'm so sorry… I just, for all these years I saw you as my student, and I just…" She merely smiled sadly at me.

"Can I help with the system calibrations?" I merely nod and hold out my hand to help her towards the computer.

"Primus, it's about time you two talked this out!" Cliff yelled from off to the side.

Arcee smacked him in the head. "No profanities around Ev, remember?"

He made a snort sound and responded, "Hey, I didn't use that bad of language." I start to snap back at him, until we all snap our heads towards the sound of a slew of Cybertronian profanities coming from Everon who was at the time clutching her freshly stubbed toe. We all look back at him, and he held his hands up and says, "I did not teach her _that_."

Now, in the present time, I sit here, listening as Everon explains what happened on her most recent escapade. Optimus prompts her to speak once we are all gathered round in the base and the children had been taken home. "Now, what did you mean about a deal with the Devil?"

She looks nervous, shuffling from foot to foot on the platform. Glancing at me from where I stand off to the side, I give her an encouraging smile, and she sighs before beginning. "Silas wants me to act as a spy within the government, specifically to find out information about you guys. The train scene was staged… sort of."

"Sort of…?" Bulk asks.

With a proud smirk, one that she picked up during her time with the Decepticons, she states, "I really was fighting Silas' men. He told them not to hold back, to make the scene more believable. I don't think he expected me to actually beat them…"

Optimus' eyes narrow as he stares at his daughter. "Why did you say you might have to except the job?"

"Because, imagine it: I could leak him false information, gain intelligence on his organization, maybe even get myself a position within the group—"

"You will do no such thing," Optimus tells her in a severe tone.

"Excuse me? Do you know what type of opportunity this is? Mech is obviously bad news, and you weren't with Silas when he first saw you. With that look in his eyes, there is no way to avoid another confrontation in the future. He sees you as the next big step in innovation, and he isn't going to stop until he knows how you all tick."

"Then we shall keep a lookout for him and his group's movements in the future—"

Everon was getting pissed. She clenched her fists at her sides and began to snap at her father who still looked steely calm. "You're being ridiculous. We have a way in _now_. If we don't take this opportunity, we might never have one again! He is after you all, and there is no way I can just stand back while my family is in danger!"

Optimus is about to continue, but I decide it's time to step in. Standing between my leader and apprentice, I say, "Easy you two. We don't need a fight."

"What about a vote?" Everon says, anger still flashing in her eyes. "This involves the team, let's let them decide. This may be our best chance at stopping Silas, so they should be able to have a say in what happens."

Optimus gives a stiff nod, still watching his young daughter. "Very well. I say no."

She rolls her eyes. "Like that was a surprise…"

That's when Arcee cuts in. "I agree with Optimus." Everon turns quickly towards her. "I'm sorry, but I promised Cliff I would do everything to protect you should something happen to him, and I'm not about to let you near someone like Silas. The risks are too high if you get caught."

Before Everon could respond, Bumblebee speaks up. **Let her do it.** Everyone looks at him in surprise. **I know what's it's like to be considered too young for a job… This should be her decision. We just need to make sure to make this as safe for her as possible.** Everon gives the young Bot a grateful smile, before turning to Bulkhead.

He sighs, and then looks at Optimus. "Sorry boss, if the kid says that she thinks she can do this, then I trust her."

Now, everyone's eyes are locked on me. I'm quiet for a minute, but I finally speak. "She may be young, but Everon has proved herself in much worse situations. I believe that she can do this." Everon is grinning in excitement, but Optimus suddenly speaks up.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow this. Vote or not, you are too young Everon. I cannot and will not risk your well being for some information." Everon's face falls, and she suddenly looks devastated. Without a word, she runs from the room with a saddened looking Optimus watching her leave.

I look towards him. "What in the Allspark are you doing?"

He sighs. "My old friend, I just can't allow her to do this. The risks are too high…"

"You can't keep doing this, Optimus. You think you are protecting her, but all you are doing is pushing her away. You're going to lose her if you keep this up."

He looks at me, his eyes sad and lost. "I just want to keep her safe…"

I sigh and move to place my hand on his shoulder. "I know this is hard for you to accept, but Everon is not the same little girl we used to know. She still has the heart of an Autobot, but personality wise… she is as volatile as Megatron. If you don't learn to embrace the girl before you, her anger will consume her as it did Megatron. That anger could be all of our destruction."

He looks at me, his shoulders slumped. Cybertronian children were known to take characteristics from their parents. Everon had distinct traits from her mother as well as Optimus and Megatron.

She had her mother's curious and innocent nature.

She had Optimus' pure heart and humble tendencies.

And she had Megatron's fierce personality and imposing presence. She could make people want to follow her without the intimidation, but she is not afraid to stand down a Cybertronian even though they could squish her in an instant. Also, one more trait she gained from Megatron that we have all noticed in recent years is her silver tongue. She could say anything to anyone and convince them to believe her, which is the reason why I believe she could handle this assignment. Unfortunately, it is also an issue that has had the team on edge.

"Optimus, I say this with the upmost respect, but I'm pulling medical rank on you. I'm letting her take on this assignment."

"Ratchet," Arcee says from the side. "What makes you think you can pull rank on this? If anything, Everon's well-being is better off without her on this mission!"

"I'm pulling rank because my job is not to only oversee the physical but the mental well-being of this team. Optimus is not looking at this with an unbiased view. Also, Everon needs this. She is lost and confused and needs some kind of reassurance of her place on this team. Without this, I'm afraid she might leave or fall into a deeper depression… Scrap."

**Depression? What are you talking about Ratchet? **Bumblebee asks with a sad and confused expression.

With a sigh, I say, "I'm not even supposed to tell you that. I've been talking to her in confidence recently… Just trust me when I say she needs this." I got many worried looks, but they all nodded to me. "Now, I'm going to go talk to her. I think I can talk her down out of this mood." Again, I received silent nods before I turned from the group to make my way to the roof.

* * *

She was in her usual spot, right in front of Cliffjumper's stone pillar. I approach her and hesitate for a moment. Without looking at me, she says, "You can sit, Ratchet. I promise not to bite."

I slowly lower myself next to her. "I'm sorry… I slipped back in there."

"They would have noticed sooner or later," she tells me as she places her chin on her knees, knowing exactly what I meant.

We sit in silence for a moment, just enjoying each other's company. "I pulled medical rank on him. You can go through with job. Just… keep us in the loop and be careful, okay?"

She smiles slightly at me. "The minute I sense that I could be loosing my cover, I'll stop. I don't want to be caught anymore than you."

I return her smile. "I know, just laying down some ground rules." My face turns a little serious. "You know he just worries about you, right?"

"I know. He's my dad, he's supposed to be overprotective just as it's my job as a teenager to be rebellious. I just… I need this Ratchet."

"I know, and I told him as much. I trust you to be able to handle yourself. Just be careful, okay?" She rolled her eyes then turned her gaze back to the stone pillar in front of her, clutching her knees a little tighter to her chest. "How are you today?"

She takes a moment to respond, and that's when I see the single tear come down her cheek while she refused to take her eyes from the stone pillar. "Taking it a day at a time. Just a day at a time…"

This girl may be our hope, but I fear she shall be her own destruction.

* * *

**Alright, I just wanted to put out another chapter before the weekend was up. I plan to post every Friday from now on, Saturday at the latest if I'm busy. Anyway, please read and review! I REALLY like reviews.**


	14. Chapter 11

**I realize that I have finally gone over the edge as far as this fanfiction goes… I'm planning it so much in my head that I have started to think in Cybertronian curse words… Anyway, on with the story!**

I kept fidgeting in my seat. I've never been one to sit still, and it's even worse when I have detention. No sketching, no homework since it's all done, and to make it worse, I was starving. "Detention…" Miko sighs next to me as she sits down her history book.

"Let me guess," I whisper to her while the teacher wasn't paying any attention. "You _forgot_ to do your homework again, didn't you?"

"Yep. And let _me_ guess. This has something to do with Mr. Pastelli's bad mood, right?"

"No, well, sort of. As I was leaving math, I had an… incident with Vince. Anyway, I ended up flipping him to the ground. Mr. Pastelli saw and wasn't too happy. I got detention and that slagger got a pass to the nurse's office."

"Vince doesn't know how to take no for an answer, does he?" Miko tells me with a knowing look. I sigh. Vince had been making advances on me for the past few years now. It's one of the reasons he gives jack such a hard time. He thinks Jack is competition. "When are you actually gonna tell someone about him?"

"I'm fine: just, don't let it on to anyone. I'm more then capable of handling him."

_Too bad he can't see that I'm not available anymore,_ I think as I grasp the shard hanging around my neck. I may not be able to give Wheeljack my shard, but I have no intentions of wanting to be with anyone but him. I was as much his as he was mine.

I'm pulled from my daydreaming by Miko who is dragging me by the arm while motioning me to be quiet. As we leave the room and the building, I say, "My dad is gonna be pissed…"

"Oh, live a little," Miko tells me as we approach Bulkhead who was blaring some of his and Miko's favorite heavy metal. She yanks open the front seat and jumps in while I slide into the back. "I love this song!" Miko yells as she begins to jump around and attempt to sing along with Bulkhead.

That girl should stick to guitar.

"Miko," Bulkhead interjects into her singing. "I thought you had a history report to do. Did detention end early?"

Miko buckles up and crosses her arms behind her head. "Did for me. Not sure about Ev here." I merely roll my eyes as I settle into the seat and pull out my sketchpad from my messenger bag. "Uh-oh, here comes teacher, and she doesn't look happy!" Miko then pushes herself down into the seat and yells, "Step on it, Bulk head!" while I merely raise an eyebrow at her, not really as freaked out over the teacher as she is.

"Aw, Miko." Bulkhead does as she asks, and soon we are driving along, speeding down the road. The ride is silent for a while, but then Bulkhead begins to lecture us about running off from detention. I simply slip in my ear buds for my IPod and crank up the volume. I know it's a little rude, but I'm still a little mad over the Vince thing.

He was getting bolder. His flirtations and advances had been annoying at first, but now he would literally walk up and grab me in public. I should tell someone, but anyone I know would over react, and I wasn't about to go to a teacher. If this meant a few detentions for getting a little violent with Vince, so be it. He should get the picture. Eventually…

While, riding, I'm vaguely aware of a headache in the back of my head, but I choose to ignore it.

When we get back to base, I pull out my ear buds, grab my sketchbook and bag, then jump out of Bulk's vehicle mode as Miko does the same. "Ugh," she says. "You sound like my parents."

Bulkhead shifts and asks in a confused voice, "Aren't they Japanese?"

I walk away with the intention to find a decently quiet corner to play my music and sketch while Bulkhead tries in vain to explain to Miko the importance of college. "You may speak a different language," she tells him, "But you say the same things."

"That's because we want the best for you," Bulk tells her as I slump on the ground off to the side. "We want you in school not jail."

"Uh-oh," Jack chimes in in a mocking tone from the platform next to Ratchet. "What did you do?" I grabbed a bolt off the ground near me and chucked it at Jack's head, earning a satisfactory yelp.

"Leave them be, Darby," I tell him.

"Well someone isn't in a good mood today…" he responds while rubbing his head.

Bulkhead kneels in front of the young girl. "Look, Miko, before I became a warrior, I was a laborer, in construction. I can build stuff, and I can break stuff and that's it."

Bulkhead's point went completely over her head. "I love breaking stuff! I wanna be just like you, Bulk."

Beeping came from Ratchet's station as Bulkhead continues, albeit a bit frustrated. "Why would you want to be like me when you could be a medic, like Ratchet."

Ratchet was completely unaware of their conversation. "I'm detecting a fresh energon pulse from the nation called Greece, an ancient city, quite historic I believe."

"Ancient Greece, huh," Bulkhead says with a little excitement in his tone. "Oh, fieldtrip!"

I immediately perk up at this. "Can I go? Please? I would love to see some ruins, they would be amazing to sketch in person!" I look at Ratchet and Bulkhead pleadingly, and they both exchange a quick nod, which causes me to pump my fist into the air.

Bulkhead hadn't even stopped yet when I jumped out and rushed to the center of the clearing, gazing around in wonder. "Here we are!" he announced as Miko got out, but I tuned them out, intent on finding my sketch subject.

The area was covered in many old, ruined buildings, each with designs and ancient paintings decorating them, as well as pillars and stone arches. I looked at each sight, just marveling in the simplistic design and the beauty of how they have aged. Finally, I see my inspiration, and while Bulk and Miko talked to each other, I climbed down into a flat basin of what once was probably a city.

Running up to it, I plop down in the middle of a dirt clearing and begin to pull out my sketchbook and pencils. Lately, I had been spending most of my time on Wheeljack's painting, but if I kept that up, I would begin to lose focus on it and the picture would not end well.

As I sketch, I take in the mural before me. It displays several humans in ancient Grecian clothing, one of which is holding up a glowing sphere of some sorts. I tilt my head and stare at it for a moment, wondering what about it made it seem so familiar… Shaking my head, I turn my focus to the picture before me.

Even with my focus on my work, I hear the sound of breaking rock. Curious a to what Bulk is doing, I turn and all I see is Bulkhead blocking a stone pillar from hitting Miko. "Miko, stay down!" he yells as I stow my stuff and begin to run back towards them.

Suddenly, a familiar figure tackles Bulkhead, sending them flying to the spot that I had just been sitting in. The figure manages to gain his footing first, and then he throws Bulkhead into mural I had been taking inspiration from. "You pile of scrap, I was sketching that!" I yell at the Con who was easily Bulkhead's size without as much width in the torso.

Normally, yelling at the enemy would be considered a bad move, but I knew this Con personally, so talking to him like that was something that I felt accustomed to being able to do. The Con turned in confusion, then his optics lit up in excitement. "Shadow! Ha, how's my favorite little princess?"

He jogs over to me and scoops me up before I can protest. "Breakdown, what have I told you about calling me that? Or of picking me up without permission?"

He just grins like a fiend. "Sorry, little Bit. Can ya blame a guy for missing ya? It's been a while." I roll my eyes and turn to look at Bulkhead who is groaning as he sits upright. "Oops," he says sarcastically and shrugs. "Hope the pretty picture wasn't too important."

"Breakdown," I say mockingly sweet to him. When he turns his head back to face me, I yell, "Put me the frag down!"

He snorts at me. "Still don't understand why you like those goody goodies." Then with sad eyes, he adds as he sits me on the ground, "Just remember, your family is still waiting for you to come home. Just give us some heads up so we can tie up Starscream or something." With that, he turns and starts running off, transforming mid-stride into his familiar jeep vehicle mode.

Bulkhead sits up and grabs his head. "Told you I'm good at breaking things…"

Miko walks towards him, smiling. "I always have your back, Bulk. Got us a picture of the picture." She then holds up her phone as proof. "Now, can someone tell me why Ev seems so buddy-buddy with that Con?"

I just roll my eyes as Bulkhead looks at me, probably expecting the answer as well. "He's Knock Out's assistant. Working with Knock Out meant working with him, too. And he's not that bad, at least when he's not trying to smash you…" As we head back though, I realize that the headache that had been steadily growing in my head seemed to subside some after my interaction with Breakdown…

"It is indeed an energon harvester," Optimus states back at base as he points to the orb in the picture that is now up on the screen. "A powerful tool created by the ancients to remove raw energon from any source."

"Did Greek Gods know Autobots?" Raf asked curiously.

"No," I pipe up from off to the side where I leaned against the platform's railing. "Ancients often used the art of an era to conceal messages and stuff. This fresco was likely a signpost indicating the harvester's hidden location here on Earth." My voice sounded a bit distant and uninterested, which earned some strange looks from everyone, but I couldn't seem to care too much.

Jack broke he temporary silence. "Uh, Optimus? If the harvester removes energon from anything, and you all have energon pumping inside you…" I immediately tense, realizing the implications.

"Indeed, Jack," my father responds. "In Decepticon hands, the harvester would be a devastating weapon."

"See!" Miko yells to Bulkhead. "You were a genius to total that painting."

I smirk as Arcee continues. "Miko's not wrong. How're the Cons gonna find the harvester without the fresco?"

"With high speed internet," Raf offers from where he sits at his laptop. He continues to explain as I walk over to lean in and look at the screen. "Just enter an image search for Greek God and golden orb, and this pops up. It's in a museum."

As he enlarges the image, I can't help but mutter, "Scrap." I move over to let Raf hold the screen up to the other Bots and cross my arms over my chest as I gauge their various reactions. "That definitely looks legit. We need to contact Fowler. Stat."

While saying this, I let my arms drop and move to the computer to start pulling up his cell over the system's comm link. Unfortunately, Fowler didn't answer. "You have reached Special Agent William Fowler. I am currently on an intensive training retreat and unavailable till Tuesday—"

"I hate talking to machines," Ratchet grumbles from where he stands on the platform behind me. I snort in response as I hang up on the voicemail.

"You'd think he would leave us _some_ way to contact him…" I turn to my father and give him a sly smirk, causing him to look a bit confused. "I guess we are going to have to get creative. Who wants to break into a museum?"

"Wait, what?" Jack announces.

"Without Agent Fowler's help," my dad explains, catching on to my intentions, "We will have to confiscate the harvester on our own."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Confiscate? As in steal museum property?!" Jack is such a killjoy.

"That sounds…" Raf continues as Jack buries his face in his hand while leaning forward on the railing, "…illegal."

"Well the Cons aren't exactly law-abiding citizens themselves, now are they?" I ask as I walk up to the three humans. "Primus knows we wouldn't _want_ to break human law, but once the Decepticons learn of the harvester's location, they won't hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary. We _have_ to do this, at least for the sake of being covert."

Jack was still unconvinced. "Okay Ev, but covertly and giant alien robot," he says as he gestures to the Bots gathered around us, "…don't really go together." Raf began to bob his head up and down quickly from where he stood next to Jack. "Museums are public, and they have guards, and security cameras."

The entire time he spoke, my smirk slowly grew into wide, slightly feral grin. "You really don't see where this is going, do you?"

"Noooooo problem!" Miko announces as she jumps between us and in front of my dad. "We're small enough to sneak." She then leans towards Jack and points her finger in his face as he slowly leans away from the crazy Asian. "And _we're_ not a government secret!" She pauses. "Well, Ev kinda is." I roll my eyes at her, but then I cross my arms and jut out my hip as I look at Jack with my slightly feral grin and a "do you understand now" look in my eye.

"Miko…" Bulkhead interjects as he scratches his helm. "I'm not sure that's wise…"

"And I would normally agree with you, Bulkhead, but they may be our best option. The longer we debate, the more time we give the Decepticons."

My father, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee drove silently into the empty museum parking lot under the shade of night. Of course, I could only assume this since I was still at base, monitoring their communications as we waited for them to get into position.

"Autobots," I say into my earpiece. "Confirm position."

My dad is the first to respond. "_I have the North entrance covered."_

"_West side covered_," Arcee announced over the comm link.

_**In position on the East end**_**,** Bumblebee chimes in.

Bulkhead rounds out the roll call_. "South side covered."_

"Okay, maintain your guard. Me and the others have this covered now," I tell the Bots.

_"I will have a clear view of you,"_ my dad proceeds to tell us. _"Once you have the harvester, contact Ratchet to bridge you back to base."_

As he finishes speaking to us, Ratchet proceeds to pull the handle to open the ground bridge for us. We were currently sitting on a rolling lift that will make transporting the harvester much easier. "Now since you'll bypass all points of normal entry, you won't need to worry about setting off the alarm, but take care to avoid any security guards."

I give Ratchet a smirk and put a hand on one hip as I jut it slightly to the side, standing in an overly confident stance as I gesture with my other hand. "Honestly, we'll be fine. We go in, we come out. Just watch for Cons."

With that said, Jack begins to drive the lift into the ground bridge, and we exit the vortex into the museum. Driving down the hallway to the main atrium, we stop just short of leaving the hallway. As our gazes settle on the statue and our target, Miko whispers excitedly, "Opa!"

My dad, who is parked just in front of the glass front of the building, flashes his lights to us signaling the all clear. "Alright, up we go Jack," I tell my pseudo-brother who nods and then presses the button on the lift to raise us up. Once we reach the security camera, I say, "Okay, Miko, time for the quick fix. We don't have time to rewire this ancient piece of scrap."

Miko then takes out her phone, and after taking a properly angled photo, she sits it so the screen covers the camera lens and creates an instant makeshift feedback loop. She then looks to us, and Jack proceeds to drive the lift forward towards the target. "This is seeming way too easy…" I mutter apprehensively.

I then face palm and announce "Oh scrap," when I hear a familiar, appreciative whistle over my dad's end of the comm link from my earpiece.

"What's wrong, Ev?" Raf asks me curiously.

I sternly respond, "We need to move fast and get out. Now."

_"Sweet rims,"_ the oh-so familiar voice continues over the comm as we stop alongside our target. His voice is still as arrogant as ever, but I had and sometimes still do admire his confidence, though I question his wisdom in goading _"Twenty four gauge? Real heavy duty. Just like my friend here…"_

As I turn to look at my father, I can see him catch and struggle to hold back a missile that I knew to belong to Breakdown. Unfortunately, my dad skids backwards, and before he can stop, he cracks the window front of the museum into a circular, spider-web design.

"Yeah, we really need to move faster…"

The other three, who had been climbing on the statue's hand to try and figure out how to move the orb, look over to see the cracked front of the windowpane. Surprisingly, no alarms go off, but we look just in time for Knock Out to hit my dad with a cheap shot to the neck with his cattle prod. My dad stumbles forward to his knees and falls forward on the ground, and Knock Out then jumps on his back to hit him again with the energon prod.

I'm too shocked to respond, but Raf speaks up first, albeit nervously. "It's the Cons."

"They've got Optimus," Jack continues. I just can't help but watch as Knock Out continues to shock my father as he signals Breakdown to come forward. As he proceeds though, Bumblebee drives up, so he tries to shoot the young scout with another missile. Bee then tumbles on the ground, and Breakdown shoots at the rapidly approaching Arcee.

Gaining my voice again, I declare, "C'mon, the sooner we get this, the sooner we can fall back to base! Let's move this hunk of junk." As we proceed to try and move the harvester again, though, we hear a loud crash and see Knock Out fly into the side of the museum courtesy of a flying Bulkhead, who had been thrown by Breakdown.

The alarms went off just as Raf slid the harvester to the lift with a resounding thud. With one last glance at my family outside, both sides of my family, we lowered ourselves and began to drive the lift away from the main atrium.

"Time to make our exit boys!" Miko declared as she ran on ahead of us. After heading down the long corridor, she hit a button on the wall to open up one of the rolling doors meant for trucks. When she stepped through though, she gasped as a light fell on her. "Uh, what's up?" she weakly responded. We could hear someone say, "You better come with me miss," before she was led off.

"Not good," Jack declares as we watch the guard lead her into a side office.

I snarl and say, "Give me a minute, I'll go handle him—"

Jack grabs my wrist and says, "No way. You can't just attack a security officer for doing his job—"

"I will not abandon Miko—"

"We aren't abandoning her. Fowler can get her out and cleared later. Right now, the important thing is to get you and the harvester away from the Cons."

I glare at him, the anger that has been building up lately seeping out into my words. "They told you to keep an eye on me, didn't they? They don't trust me around the Cons, to keep myself safe or not to run off with them."

Jack looks frustrated. "Look, Ev, they are just worried for your safety. And we can talk about this later, when we aren't in danger, okay?" I hesitate but give him a sharp quick nod, a scowl still plastered on my face. "Alright, let's move." Thin legs could be seen approaching the half open truck entrance off to the side. "Arcee!"

"Jack, wait—" I try to warn, but I'm too slow. The approaching Cybertronian bends down to look inside, and we see that it is Soundwave. "Well, this is just_ lovely_," I announce sarcastically to myself while throwing my hands in the air.

Jack grabbed me and dragged me off to the side and into a storage closet with him and Raf before Soundwave could grab me. Luckily, (not really though) the Con wanted to grab the orb and head back to the Nemesis more than he wanted to chase me. Once we hear him shift and fly off, I storm out of the closet with Jack and Raf following in tow.

I run to the front of the building just in time to see Knock Out about to fall back. "Ah, Shadow! So nice to see you again. We really need to catch up, but another time perhaps." With that, he shifted and started to drive off, and when Bulkhead began to shoot at Breakdown, the brute offered me a kind smile and wave before shifting and following his partner.

"The Cons have the harvester!" Jack yells as he runs up to me.

Raf interjects by saying, "And the guards have Miko!"

"What?" Bulkhead announces with momentary shock followed by determination. "I'm going in after her." My dad places a hand in front of him to stop his pursuit.

"I second that!" I announce, but my dad gives me a look saying that he disagreed with my motion.

"Bulkhead, Miko may be detained, but she is safe from harm." I snort in response and angrily cross my arms over my chest, but my dad sends me another look that lets me know that this argument was over before it really began.

"It is likely to assume that Starscream will attempt to use the harvester to mine for energon in Earth's otherwise unreachable places," my dad tells the Bots over the comm system. "Approach with extreme caution. Starscream will not hesitate to turn the harvester on anyone of us." He turned from the ground bridge controls and continued speaking. "Bulkhead, it is best if you remain here."

"So I can bust Miko out of the museum?" he asked quickly and excitedly.

"So you can help Ratchet and Everon. You may be Miko's guardian, but she requires human assistance. Agent Fowler remains our best option."

I humph from my spot on the platform above where Ratchet was working to make a replica of the harvester. "So, we're just going to leave her there until Fowler decides to show up again? Lovely. You do remember that his legal pull is limited? What if he can't get her out? I should have just grabbed her while I still—"

"This is not up for debate, Everon," my dad tells me sternly. "We will not break the law—"

"Damaging property is against the law, and we seem to do that on a daily basis!" I snap back at him.

He raises a brow and looks at me. Slowly he asks, "Everon, why have you been so volatile as of late?" I could see in his eyes that he is just worried, but I just could not help myself.

"Maybe all this pressure, the war, everything is finally starting to hit me. Maybe I'm starting to fully acknowledge just how much you are trying to coddle me, and don't you dare deny it! I know of the orders you gave Jack to keep me away from the Cons. I am completely capable of handling myself!"

"Yet you were captured by the Cons just a few weeks back with Wheeljack," my mentor says as he keeps his focus on the replica. He didn't notice how I flinched at mention of Wheeljack's name. "Having a few extra eyes watching you—"

"I don't want to be 'watched'! I just want to be left alone!" I scream. I don't know why I'm so angry, but I can't help it. I feel sick, my headache back in full force, and I begin to collapse to my knees. My head hurts, and as everyone comes forward, I black out.

I wake up to blinding fluorescents. Groaning and clutching my head, I realize that I am laid out on a medical gurney. No one seems to have noticed that I was awake, so I close my eyes again and merely listen to what is going on around me.

Miko and Jack are arguing over by the gaming system, so I guess that she had been freed from the museum. Bee and Raf were talking to themselves off to the side, as was Bulk and Arcee, though Bulk mentioned something about wishing he didn't have to break the harvester.

The conversation I listened most intently to was between Ratchet and Optimus. "Will she be alright?" my dad asked anxiously.

Ratchet sighed. "Yes, I believe so, but I can't be entirely sure. Her mind… it's always been more complex than any that I've known, but it seems almost as if it is becoming unstable, causing this sudden change in personality. I should have seen this sooner…"

"What do you mean?"

"You know how Everon seemed… different when she came back? Well, I now believe that it was due to this gradual change in her mind. Her tempers may have seemed like a phase, but it is not that at all. I… don't know how to explain it. All I know is that the recent stress is not helping."

"Ratchet… is there anyway that this was inherited? Perhaps a mental disorder, one that would cause her to become unnecessarily angry."

Ratchet sighed. "I believe so, and I'm afraid I know where it came from… She was more stable with Cliffjumper. She put most of her dependence in him and Jack. Now with him gone and her relation with Jack seeming strained… By the Allspark, why did she have to get attached to someone like Wheeljack…"

"I had hoped that this wouldn't be true… I had always feared her taking after Megatron, but I hoped… Is there anyway to know how much she will change? Or if she will return to herself?"

"No. She could wake up fine one day and never have these tendencies again. It could be a day-to-day thing. Or… she could become like her father, consumed by her own dark thoughts. I don't know, not this early on. All I can do is monitor her brain scans for changes."

I couldn't listen to this anymore. I was angry. Livid. In my mind, there was nothing wrong with me. I wasn't like him. I wouldn't be like him. But then I realized that becoming angry and screaming at them would only support their fears.

Taking a few minutes to calm myself, I eventually sit upright on the gurney. Everyone silenced and turned to look at me, but as Ratchet and my dad turned to move towards me, I hold up my hand to stop them.

"I will never be like him. I will never be like Megatron. I don't know what else to tell you to make you believe me." I look up at them, all looking guilty and worried. Looking away again, I slowly stand up and make my way down the platform stairs. "I'm going for a drive, to get some air. I'll be back later."

The silence enveloped me as I tried to make sense of what is going on with my mind. I couldn't help the anger, the need to pick fights and scream at others for no reason. I felt like adrenaline was constantly flooding through my veins. Nothing could satiate it but releasing my anger on whoever was available.

I needed to find a release.

Suddenly, an idea popped in my head. It was a stupid, stupid idea, but it was something. Either it would allow me the release so I wouldn't anger my family, or it would be the final blow that pulled us apart.

I grasp the shard hanging loosely around my neck. I wish he was here. Everything seems so much clearer when he's here, and now everything is in a haze.

As I sat alone on the mesa, miles away from the other Bots, I pulled out my phone and dialed a line that had long ago been created for me. I just never told any of the Autobots about it.

The phone rang twice, and then a familiar voice spoke over the line. _"Alright, who is this and where did you get this number?"_

"…Hey, Knock Out…"

A pause. _"Okay, what's up? What happened, Shadow?"_

"I… I need to see you. Can we meet? At a race, like when I was younger? I'm finally old enough to pose as a driver."

"_What's with the sudden desire to hang out with a Decepticon?"_

"I need a release. I'm… I'm losing myself. I can't connect with the others, not with Cliffjumper gone, and after Megatron… I'm so confused and I need something solid to lean on, someone familiar. Someone who is not an Autobot."

He is silent for a minute. _"As long as the big guy can come with me before the race. He keeps moping because he was barely able to talk to you and you were in a foul mood."_

"Deal. And I'm sorry about the mood… I'm hoping this will fix it."

_"Well, glad to be of service. Tomorrow, the Badlands race, midnight. How does that sound?"_

I take a deep breath before responding, a smile playing on my lips. "It sounds perfect."

**And another chapter done. I'm trying to show Everon's Decepticon tendencies in the next few chapters, so please don't get upset if she is acting a bit bratty to the Autobots. Everything will level out soon. Anyway, please review!**


	15. Chapter 12

**This chapter will definitely get interesting… Also, a quick thank you to PoetofMercury for all of her reviews! I love hearing feedback, so any of you, please tell me what you think!**

* * *

Getting a ground bridge portal was more difficult than I thought. Managing to sneak a ground bridge AND set up a code to wipe my destination coordinates, PLUS being able to remotely access the ground bridge had been worse.

But finally, I'm here, at the coordinates Knock Out had supplied, waiting for him and Breakdown. Honestly, I am a nervous wreck. I haven't seen them in years, and with the recent incidents…

I turn my attention back to the road a few dozen feet from the rock I sit on. Listening for their engines, I try to think what I'm going to say when they arrive. Luckily, one of them finally arrives.

As the blue jeep pulls up, I can't help but grin in excitement. He pops open his passenger door and asks, "Need a ride?" I immediately hop off the rock and plop down in the seat. "Choose your poison."

"I'm a bit in the mood for some Five Finger Death Punch… turn it on and turn it up!" I yell happily as I pump my fists in the air.

Breakdown chuckles and then complies. "As you wish, Princess."

I give him a playful frown. "Uh, no. No calling me Princess: I banned that so long ago and you should know that by now."

He chuckles. "Whatever you say, Little Bit. Now Let's drive some. Knock Out is distracting Starscream, and when he comes, I'm gonna have to go cover for him."

"Starscream is a fragging pain in the aft."

"Ain't that the truth. So," he drawls out, the music playing in the background. "How has the Autobot scum been treatin' ya?"

I roll my eyes as I plop my feet up on his dash. "Alright, no Autobot trashing today, alright? I want no sides: We are neutrals for the night."

"Whatever buys me some more time with you."

I let a small but sincere smile crawl on my face. "Primus, I've missed these talks…"

* * *

Breakdown and I hung out for around an hour, just enjoying various things like bashing on Starscream and enjoying the blaring rock music and basking in the simplicity of each other's company. Soon, it was time for Knock Out and I to head to the race, so I sat on a rock while Breakdown left through an open ground bridge.

Before he left, though, he turned to me and with a small smile, he said, "This was… nice. Could we maybe… do it again?" His eyes were hopeful, and I couldn't help but give him a reassuring smile.

"I don't see why not." He grinned and quickly scooped me up to place a light kiss on top of my head. I laughed happily and returned the kiss to the side of his faceplate.

"Don't be a stranger: I may be tough on the outside, but I get all messy on the inside when it comes to my little sister."

"I feel the same about my brother."

"Well what about me?" interjected a familiar voice. I look over from where I stand on Breakdown's hand and grin in utter delight to see another Cybertronian I called brother leaning against a tree near the ground bridge. With a causal smirk, he continued. "I'm beginning to feel left out."

Breakdown chuckled and then bent down to let me off his hand near the ground so I could run over to Knock Out. When I reached him, we had a similar interaction as I had with Breakdown: he scooped me up, placed a light kiss on my head, and I kissed the side of his faceplate in return.

Whereas with the Autobots, who had always kept contact with me at a minimum when I was younger due to their fears of hurting me, the Cons had always seemed to keep some form of contact with me. They carried me everywhere, hardly ever sitting me down, and when I wasn't being carried, they would always stroke my head or lightly touch my head or shoulder almost as if they were afraid I might disappear.

Certain Cons that I was closer to, such as Breakdown and Knock Out, went as far as to give me the occasional light kiss on the head, and soon after I picked up the habit of giving them a light kiss on side of their faceplates. I was their honorary little sister, and they seemed to practically worship the ground I walked on, as did Megatron. He never kissed me, but he carried me in his hand or on his shoulder constantly, wanting me near him as often as possible.

Now, my closeness to these Decepticons did not mean that I love them more than the Autobots. I don't think I could ever love one over the other; it's just because of the way I was raised around each side. My interactions are habitual, and though I have started letting the Autobots carry me around more, I still haven't adjusted as much to them as I have with the Decepticons. Sure I was close with Cliff, and I was getting there with Wheeljack, but…

"Shadow… Are you still with us?" Knock Out asks in an almost tender tone, a smile on his face but a bit of concern in his eyes.

"Oh, uh, sorry. Just thinking," I tell him quickly.

Breakdown walked to us, chuckling. "You've always been one to get distracted easily. Anyway, I'll see you two later. Kick some puny human aft for me, will ya?"

Knock Out's familiar confident smirk returns to his face. "As if I'd let myself lose to some average human. Shadow and I will leave them in the dust." As he says this, he sits me on the ground and shifts to his vehicle form. I have always loved his Aston Martin vehicle mode ever since the first time I was brought onto the Nemesis. His deep red paint was similar to Cliffjumper's, and the purple decals along his sides just perfectly completed his look.

Breakdown gave us a feral grin. "Just take care of Little Bit for me, okay? Don't care if I'm your assistant: I will pound you if one of those race junkies gets their hands on her."

"As if I'd let them touch her."

With one last smile to me, Breakdown turned and let through the portal. I then turned to Knock Out and held up a bag that I had left sitting next to me on the ground. "Let me change and then we can hit the road."

"What exact type of look are you going for tonight, may I ask?" I had already been heading back to the bushes, and after quickly changing, I step back out to where his headlights were shining.

I had changed into a tight red leather mini skirt with a high waist that accentuated my hips up to just below the naval. My top was a solid black tube top that covered to just above the naval, so my stomach showed slightly. My favorite black leather jacket, the one I wore during the convoy mission, decorated my shoulders as well as the stiletto, knee-high boots from that mission. Black fingerless riding gloves adorned my hands. I wore faded silver hoop earrings, and my ever-present dog tags hung around my neck as well as my shard.

I smirked to him as I pulled my hair up into a tight, high ponytail. "How about, look but don't touch?"

* * *

As we pulled up to the race, I had just finished applying a heavy coating of my favorite dark red lipstick, one that matched Knock Out's paint job. "I think we're a little early."

"Perfect," I tell him as I place my hands on the steering wheel to give the impression that I was actually driving. "I can go frag with the competition's heads."

Knock Out made a slightly displeased sound. "I'd rather you stay in here… unless you want me to break cover to take out someone who manhandles you."

I roll my eyes and scowl at the steering wheel. "You will do no such thing, and I am perfectly capable of handling myself, thank you."

With a sigh, he says, "Yes, I know. Forgive me for being overly protective. But if they touch you, make sure you break something in response, or I will end up breaking them in the race."

"Wouldn't do anything less," I tell him with a feral smirk, one that I had learned from him. He pulls up to the cluster of cars forming, earning plenty of appreciative looks from the other racers.

None of them had seen me yet since his windows were so heavily tinted, so someone yelled, "Looks like we have a new hot shot wannabe racer on our hands. Always nice to have some fresh meat."

As I open the door, I yell back, "Really, because I was thinking the same thing." I step out of the car and slowly walk to Knock Out's hood before casually leaning back against Knock Out's hood. My smirk grew into a feral grin as all the men took in my form, and the occasional groupie seemed to scowl at my presence. "What's wrong, boys? Cat got your tongue?"

I felt powerful: I had their attention, and I wanted to make them squirm. Soon, though, one guy gained his voice and approached me, standing right in my comfort zone. "Well, little girl, are you sure you're ready to run with the big boys?"

I quirk an eyebrow and look him up and down with a dissatisfied look on my face. "Well someone certainly got some bearings on him. I've run with the big boys, and they didn't seem very up to par. You don't look that interesting either. So, could you maybe back off?" My voice is sickly sweet, and my posture hasn't changed an inch during the confrontation.

The man scowls at me, then grabs my arm. "Look here, girlie—"

A low growl, one that shocked even me came from deep in my throat. Everyone continued to watch the confrontation as I seeped as much venom into my voice as possible. "Let go of me, now, before I do something I might regret."

He smirks and leans in. "Oh yeah? You've got a little bite—" A hand grabs his shoulder and pulls him back.

"Stand down, Stephen." The man is undeniably handsome. Dark chocolate hair with matching eyes, rugged face with a nicely angular jaw, and a slight amount of facial hair growing on his face. His body was well toned, and he practically oozed danger.

Before the two could continue their fight, I had already flipped the one called Stephen onto the ground face first, and slammed one heeled foot into his back. I turned to the newcomer and said, my feral smirk back in place, "I'm more than capable of handling myself."

He chuckled, his voice deep and scratchy, but in an appealing way. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me with a warm grin. "Never said you couldn't, and you've certainly proved it. Name's Damien."

I soften my feral grin to a normal smile and offer him my hand as I lean back against my ride. "Shadow." He raises an eyebrow, and I make up an excuse. "You don't think I would use my real name when racing, do you?"

"Guess that makes sense." Turning his gaze momentarily to Knock Out, he asks, "Real nice car here…"

I give him a proud grin. "This one's a real powerhouse. Not mine, unfortunately. I'm just… borrowing him from one of my dad's unworthy employees. The man doesn't know how to treat a real car. I call him Knock Out."

Damien looks at me with a surprised quirk to his eyebrow. "You named your car? Must be fond of it then."

"You have no idea. Where's your ride?"

"Right over there." He gestures behind him, and I tense when I see the familiar paintjob of the car. "I take that look to mean you like it?"

The black Ferrari with green lightning bolt decals had been the very same car I had heard before seeing race down the rode one day. The one with the supercharged engine. The one I had had Wheeljack scan for his vehicle mode. Though Wheeljack didn't take the color scheme, I could recognize this car anywhere.

Turning back to Damien, I tell him, "My boyfriend has the same car… his engine is supercharged though, with a custom hemi engine."

Damien seemed to deflate a bit when I said boyfriend, but perked back up at the mention of the engine. "Whoa, same as mine. Maybe he and I could race one day, see who can handle their rides better."

Glancing back at the car, I tell him sadly, "He's been deployed. Not sure when he is coming back…"

Sensing my discomfort, Damien gestures down to Stephen. "I take it you don't plan on letting him up anytime soon?"

Stephen, who had finally gained some sense, tries to push off the ground, but I just shove him back to the ground with my heeled boot. The man hissed in pain, and I tilt my head in a curious, birdlike manner as I watch him. "Not sure yet. Maybe if he learns some manners and asks nicely…"

Damien smirks to me then turns to some others behind him. "Can someone get this trash out of here?" Two more guys, each looking pretty intimidating, walk up to where I had Stephen pinned to the ground. After pressing my heel once more into his back, I lift my foot and allow the two guys to pick Stephen off the ground.

Stephen shoves the guys off of him, gives me a glare, which I return with a feral smirk, and then he storms off. "Someone has a temper…" I practically purr. After that comment though, I realize how strange I've been acting. _Scrap, I came here specifically to try NOT to act this way._ I turn to Damien and ask, "So are we going to start this race or what?"

He smiles at me and then gives an exaggerated bow while glancing up at me with an amused sort of twinkle to his eyes. "As the lady wishes." With that, he stands up and announces, "Alright, everyone get your asses to the starting line!"

Soon everything was a blur of motion. People were jumping into their cars, and I casually saunter around to Knock Out's passenger seat. "Well, that was an interesting conversation… I would say I approve of the flirtations with the Damien character, but who is this mysterious 'boyfriend' of yours? And why have you not told me about him?"

"Because there is no boyfriend. It's called _lying_," I tell my pseudo-brother.

"I felt you tensed, now, who is he? What is he like? I have a right to know… Holy fragging Primus, slag it to the Pit!"

I jolt at his sudden change of tone. We had just begun to move to the starting line when he began yelling. "Keep it down, someone might—"

"Please tell me that is not a fragging Airrant stone hanging around your neck, Shadow." I'm shocked, unable to move. Tension overruns my body, and he begins to growl dangerously. "Who. Gave. You. It. Tell me, right—"

Scratching could be heard off to the side, and I look over to see Stephen run his ring down the side of Knock Out's passenger door. "Oh, scrap…"

Knock Out growled ferociously. "Big. Mistake."

* * *

I slammed my locker door shut as I sigh tiredly. Last night had not gone as I expected. Between arguing with Knock Out and the way the race ended, I was too spun up to sleep well once I got home. Knock Out and I had ended up screaming at each other after the race. He was angry because I refused to tell him who gave me my shard, and I was angry for him running Stephen off the road and nearly killing the idiotic man.

Long story short, Knock Out drove off in a huff and left me on the side of the road. I ended up having to walk back to my arrival coordinates in order to bridge myself back. Since I was in heels, nearly three miles away from the coordinates, and thoroughly pissed, the walk was not pleasant.

Now, Knock Out had called me repeatedly today, each time I sent him to voicemail. I would listen to them later, but I was currently not in the mood to hear what he had to say.

To make matters worse, Vince had been pestering me today, and I ended up giving the guy a black eye when he wouldn't let go of my arm. A teacher had seen how Vince had been grabbing me prior to the punch, so now they wanted to have a meeting with my parents to discuss the growing tension that has become obvious to the teachers. A meeting that my dad couldn't attend because he was currently 'deployed,' and Fowler was unavailable. Again.

Let's just say I was very tense today.

To make matters worse, I couldn't fragging stop thinking about that slagging Damien. Yes, he was nice, and I have to admit, he was definitely something to look at, but I am in a relationship. I couldn't be thinking about guys. I didn't want to be with other guys. I just—

A hand was on my shoulder, and I nearly jumped out my skin. "Whoa, easy Ev." Thank Primus, it was just Jack. "You've been staring at your locker for a few minutes now. What gives?"

"Nothing," I tell him, then yawn. "Just tired and dazed."

"Well, I've got work, but afterwards, Arcee and I will meet you back at base, alright?"

I give him a weak smile. "Okay, but no promises that I will be awake. I think I'm just gonna crash for a while once I get back."

"Alright, Sis, just be careful."

With a smirk, I throw my backpack up on my shoulder. "And when have I been anything but careful?"

* * *

Arriving back at base had been interesting. School had apparently called my dad's line and left him messages about 'wanting to have a meeting about the cause of my misbehaviors' as of late. Questions about Vince, why I hadn't told anyone, things like that were tossed my way. I brushed them off while trying to hide my utter exhaustion.

Eventually, I managed to sneak off to my room and proceeded to plop down on my bed. Looking around, my room wasn't exactly messy, but it wasn't organized. I called it organized chaos. To everyone else, it seemed disorganized, but I understood every inch of where things were, and I liked the way it was.

My eyes finally settled on my painting for Wheeljack. Unlike the others, I didn't include his vehicle mode. The background was black, but it messily faded to white the closer the outer edge got to the main subject of the picture. Shadowy figures of Wheeljack in three various fighting poses adorned the background.

One of the poses showed him throwing a punch to the left, another showing him shooting off on the right. The third had him in the air, mid lead, with katanas drawn and pointing off to either side of him. Each had a look of fierce determination in his eyes, while he also seemed confident as well.

The main subject, though, was of him kneeling in the center of the large canvas, giving a soft look to the small figure sitting in front of him. The figure shared his tender look towards him while holding a sketchbook in her lap. As you might have guessed, the figure was me.

This was the first time I had included myself in one of my paintings for the Bots, so I'm not as confident right now in it. I still have some detail painting to do, but I should be done soon. I just hope it ends well.

Bringing myself out of my painting contemplations, I turn my attention to my phone, mainly my voicemail. I had ten, nine from Knock Out, and the last from an unknown number.

Knock Out's had all been pretty similar. He kept apologizing, saying it wasn't any of his business, to please forgive him. He even suggested another race called the Circuit tomorrow night, and gave me the coordinates. I was a bit surprised to here that the race was near Jasper. The last call, though, had been a bit unexpected.

"_Hey, Little Bit. It's Breakdown, though I'm sure you already knew that. Anyway, I'm asking ya as a favor: please go to that race with Knock Out. Talk to him. He's trying to hide it, but whatever you fought over really upset him. He's been either moping or snapping ever since he got back, and I can see him constantly trying to call you._

"_We both know his tendencies to push things too much, so try not to hold this against him. We both miss ya a lot, and if ya let things end on this note… He's taking this hard. Anyway, just remember, we both love ya, and no matter what, you'll always be our little sister, whether you're a Decepticon or a goody two shoes Autobot. Remember that."_

With that the line went dead. I sigh, and then mumble to myself, "I guess I'm going to that stupid race…"

My phone began to ring. I see that it's not Knock Out, so I answer. "What's up, Miko? Miss me already?" After listening to the reply, I yell, "He's doing what!"

* * *

When it comes to racing, I can be a bit of a hypocrite. Sure, I race sometimes with Knock Out. Last night was the first in a while. But the idea of Jack and one of my fellow Autobots racing makes me extremely angry.

Racing is no joke. The adrenaline is nice, but it can be you're worst nightmare if you get addicted to it. That's why I've always supported my dad's 'restraint of power' rule. One of the differences between the Bots and the Cons is that Autobots don't abuse their power. It's one of the differences between the Autobots and me.

As I storm up to them after they reenter the base, I was livid. "What part of no racing did you two not understand!"

Arcee looks startled and Jack sighs. "Let me guess, Miko told you?"

"Probably would have heard from school tomorrow if she hadn't. Would you rather me be yelling at you there instead?"

"Look, it's a one time thing, I mean Sierra was there and everything," I roll my eyes when he mentions her, "And besides, we creamed Vince! I thought you would have been happy about that?"

I narrow my eyes and tell him, "Just don't do it again. It's extremely addicting, and besides, I can handle Vince myself!"

"Trust me, Ever," Arcee interjects. "I'm not racing again, so no issues there."

I give a sharp nod before storming off. Why do I have a feeling that this won't be the end of it?

* * *

To keep Knock Out from realizing that I actually _lived_ in Jasper, I ground bridged myself to the coordinates he had given me. As I walk through the portal, I'm greeted by the sight of a nervous looking Knock Out pacing back and forth. When he suddenly turns and sees me, he looks shocked. "You actually came…"

I give him a small smile and walk forward. "Can't stay mad at my brother for too long. Let's just… both move on, okay? Enjoy another race."

He grins at me, and then he shifts into his car form. After opening his driver door, he says, "Well let's not be late then, shall we?" I grin and saunter over before plopping down in the seat as he closes the door behind me. "Your look is a bit more toned down tonight."

I look at my dark skinny jeans, red t-shirt, and black combat boots. Besides my usual necklaces, I only wore a pair of studs, and my look was completed with my black leather jacket and fingerless riding gloves. "I went more for comfort than anything. I'm barely wearing any make up."

"What's with the gloves lately?" he asks inquisitively as he starts driving.

"I… might have cut my hand open a few weeks back and now have a nasty looking scar."

"What?!" he asked, suddenly sounding a bit panicked. "What happened, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I just cut it open while trying to fix the ground bridge." I left out the part about the Scraplets. "Stupid mistake on my part."

"Well, that's a rarity," he comments offhandedly. Soon, we are pulling up to the race, and I take in the car in front of us in the starting line up.

"Oh scrap…" Then race began, and we take off down with the other racers down the makeshift track.

As we follow behind the familiar yellow car, Knock Out began to speak. "The Autobot they call Bumblebee… Well this is interesting…"

"Primus, I'm gonna peal his paint and kick Jack's aft when I find out why they are out racing when I specifically reiterated why they shouldn't just yesterday!"

"You're racing," he reminded me. "With a Decepticon no less."

"I've been corrupt in the head for a while now. They should be able to think better, at least more responsibly than me."

"Well, let's say hi."

"Wait, what—" I'm interrupted when Knock Out rams into the side of a familiar car, one that looks like Vince's. "Knock Out, stop this!"

"Aw, let me have some fun!" he says in a feral but happy tone. Soon, Bee drives up on the angled side of the drainage ditch we were driving through. Knock Out followed suit, all while I was screaming Cybertronian profanities at him. "Someone has a dirty mouth on them."

I grit my teeth and respond, "Learned it from you!"

Knock Out proceeded to fire at the Autobot scout, who swerved along the angled wall to avoid being hit. At some point, both vehicles went flying into the air before landing on the open road and taking off from the racetrack while blaster shots were still sent Bee's way. I am so slagged when I get back to base…

Speaking of base… "Frag it, Knock Out, base is calling me! They must know I'm gone. I have to answer so keep it down!"

"No promises!" he told me with a dark chuckle.

I growl but answer anyway, just as Knock Out takes a swerve to the right. _"Everon,"_ Arcee states, an edge to her tone. _"Bee is being chased by Knock Out and Jack is with him. Where are you!"_

"Um… I might be a little busy right now."

"Hello, Autobots!" Knock Out yells as he continues to fire away at Bee. "I am taking good care of _my_ little sister. You, on the other hand, should pay more attention of who she hangs out with."

I start making motions with my hand for him to shut up as Arcee yells, _"Is that Knock Out! How did he kidnap you!"_

"Who said she was kidnapped!"

"That's it!" I yell and immediately hang up the phone. I then smack the steering wheel as hard as I could. "Was that really necessary?!"

After giving a startled 'hey' when I hit him, he ignored my other statement. "Where'd the little Autobot go to?" he mused as he stopped momentarily.

"Don't know, but I know that I'm leaving now." I try to unbuckle the seatbelt, but I can here his satisfied humph when I can't unbuckle it. He takes off as I growl and snap, "Get bent."

"Language, dear Shadow… Ah, here we are!" With a quick sharp turn, he heads back to a little overpass where I can see some headlights. He shifts for a second, while I yelled from his chassis, then he shifts back into his car form as a familiar human falls into the seat beside me.

"Vince!" I yell, a bit of a growl in my voice.

"Everon? What in hell is going on?!" Vince yells back at me.

"Now, that is no way to talk to my little sister, skin bag." Quickly, Knock Out restrains Vince and with a metal claw coming out of the dash, he shoots him with a neural disrupter pulse, causing Vince to be… well knocked out. "That's better." And then we were off, as I watch Jack futilely try and run after us.

"Okay, not that I wouldn't love to let you trash this guy, but you can't just take him!"

"Can and did. He can be a good lab rat. Now wait while I call Breakdown." He then strapped me in to where I couldn't move, similar to what he did to Vince.

"Okay, now _this_ is officially kidnapping."

Ignoring me, he radioed the Nemesis. "Breakdown, you'll never guess what I'm packing: Bumblebee's human friend!"

"He is not a friend! He is some retarded human who doesn't know how to keep his hands to himself!"

"Still, when the Autobots attempt to stage a rescue…"

_"They have a… Breakdown."_

The Con then chuckles as I snap, "You both are fragged in the head."

* * *

After the two Cons had finished their planning, Knock Out went to go bait the Autobots. Once he found them, he sped past them, easily gaining their attention. "Hmmm… Bumblebee brought company."

"You got backup, too. Not a surprise that he got backup, especially after that _lovely_ phone call."

Knock Out gets into position, and as soon as Bee and Bulk come walking up, he turns on his headlights to distract them. Breakdown then came barreling through the wall of a nearby building. The fight is rough, each exchanging their fair share of blows and shots. Knock Out mumbles, "Now where is the two-wheeler…"

We are answered a loud clash of metal on the roof. "Hey, watch the paint!" Knock Out shouts, a loud and angry edge to his voice, and he immediately takes off, leaving Breakdown to his fight while Arcee tries to hang on. He eventually flings her off as he heads towards the open road, but she shifts and follows suit.

"Uh, Breakdown," Knock Out explains over the radio. "In case you're looking for me, things got messy, so I hit the road. One scrape is enough for today."

"Just let us go, before things go even farther south," I plead to him as we race down the open Nevada road. He ignores me, but I eventually hear the sound of a familiar truck horn. "Oh, we are so scrapped…"

I look over to see my dad on the passenger side just as he nudges Knock Out off the side of the road into a ditch. I can hear Knock Out's wheels run uselessly as he tries to gain traction, and I couldn't help but snicker at his predicament.

Hearing the sound of my dad shifting and approaching us quickly sobers me. "I'm so dead…" Soon, he lifts Knock Out easily into the air by his rear bumper. He then pulls off his side door, causing Knock Out to momentarily yelp in pain. After this, he reaches in to gently pull me out.

"Hey, Daddy…"

With a look that could scare Megatron, he says in a voice that shows he is trying to contain himself, "We will talk later." I felt myself shrink as he plops me down on his shoulder. This will not be good.

* * *

The drive back to base had been tense. Very tense. I couldn't help but feel myself shrink with each minute that went by until I was curled up in a very small, tight ball in Optimus' front seat. I hid most of my face, but I left my eyes out. Once we pull in to base, he merely opens the door rather then shift with me in his hand.

I slink out onto the ground, refusing to make eye contact with him. Everyone is silent, and I can feel all their eyes on me. He sighs and begins to pace. I don't move. When he finally speaks, he asks in a sad, broken voice, "Why?"

Before I can speak, the proximity sensors go off. Ratchet turns to the computer and announces, "Fowler. And his lovely timing…"

We all wait for him to come down the elevator, with me hanging back behind the others. When Fowler finally steps out, my dad snaps, "What do you want?"

"Easy Prime, I'm not exactly in the best mood about this visit either. It seems we have a new liaison assignment."

"Another human?" Bulkhead asks.

"How many do they think we need to watch us?" Arcee snarks.

"I'm not here to watch you Bots," a familiar voice announces from the elevator. As he comes forward, I felt something sink into my gut from dread. "I'm assigned to Everon." As he turns to look at me, Damien sends me a friendly grin. "Or should I call you Shadow?"


	16. Chapter 13

_****IMPORTANT NOTICE**_**:**

**I am starting a side series about Everon's childhood before the Prime series called "Silver Eyes and Lullabies." It will include times of Everon as a child with both the Autobots and Decepticons. I don't plan on going in chronological order, but some of the stories I plan to write is the Guatemala incident, when Ev meets Megatron, and even the Canada incident that shall never be spoken of according to Everon. **

**Anyway, if you like this, I hope you like the new one! I won't be posting it as often as this story, but I will most frequently.**

* * *

This can't be happening. I must be dreaming. Everything was hitting at once. After Damien's comment, the entire room went silent. Then, everyone seemed to explode at once.

"Her name is not Shadow!"

"Why in the name of Primus do we need _another_ human!?"

"How did he get clearance for this!"

**Okay, I'm still wondering what Ev was doing with Knock Out.**

The Bots continued yelling like this while I stayed shell-shocked and silent in the background, until my dad's booming voice interrupted them. "Silence!" And, well, everyone was silent. He then strode forward to the platform and bent over to stare Damien face to face. Though his tone was threatening, Damien appeared unfazed. "You should leave. Now. It is a _very_ bad time, and I would like to talk to my daughter, _alone_."

Damien leaned forward onto the railing, bringing his face even closer to the angered Autobot leader. "No can do. I came here to get introductions and explanations into your 'family.' And as far as what she did, her business is now my business, no discussions."

My father's face grew angrier, and Fowler stepped in. "I'm not happy about this either, Prime, but my superiors aren't budging, and I did a thorough background check on him. He's a good agent, and a good choice for Ever: I think the two will get along just fine."

"You make it sound like they're going to be living together or something," Bulkhead chimes in. Fowler seemed to clear his throat, and Damien smirked. "Oh boy…"

Optimus straightened up. "We will discuss this later Fowler. Right now, he needs to leave. This is a family discussion, one that you may be privy to if you desire, but I don't want him listening in on."

"Sorry, Prime. Would if I could. Besides, what could possibly be so bad?" After taking in the looks of me and the Bots he goes, "Looks like I might have spoken to soon…"

"Okay, sir, Optimus Prime, is it?" Damien interjects. "I've been assigned to her. Whatever's wrong, I'm supposed to know. If you don't want me to relay to command because it's personal, then fine. But with all due respect, I'm not leaving her."

My dad his silent for a minute, but he relents. "Very well, but let me talk to her without interruptions. That means no questions, no personal opinions, nothing. When I am done, you may ask as we will be asking you questions as well. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

Optimus nods to him, then turns to me. My gaze immediately hits the floor. "Alright, explain. How did you end up with Knock Out?"

Damien's attention definitely perks up at the name, obviously remembering when I told him the name at the race. "I wanted to see him and Breakdown. It was supposed to be one race, just to talk. I haven't been myself lately, and I just… I thought the adrenaline of a race would help. It did when I was younger…"

"You've raced before?" Ratchet asked.

With a nod, I say, "Knock Out used to take me. It took a lot of pleading, but I eventually could sweet talk permission out of Megatron. I just had to be buckled in the entire time and not allowed out of Knock Out's vehicle mode. It always made me feel… more like myself. I didn't think that he would _kidnap_ me."

"He's a Con, Ev. You should have known better than to do something that stupid," Arcee rants. "I mean, you should talk to us, not run off to them. We're you're family—"

"And as much as I hate to bring it up," I snap back, "they are my family too. They call me their little sister. They scoop me up and kiss my head. They stroke my hair out of habit, as if they were making sure I was still there, still real! They don't treat me like a fragile little china doll that would break if they touched it!"

All of the Bots looked shocked, and I knew they were hurt by these words, but I continued. "I don't want to hurt you all. I never told you any of this because I didn't want cause a rift, but the rift is there. It's always been there, and I need to stop denying it. I will always be an Autobot in my spark, but my mind is like a kaleidoscope that constantly moves and changes. I'm not a goody-goody, law-abiding girl, but I would never hurt an innocent person. I just, I don't… Primus, I _miss_ them!"

I felt like crying. I was breaking them, breaking myself, but I just couldn't stop. "I feel like I'm breaking, shattering under everything. I've lost my brother, my father, someone who could have been a loyal friend, all in the past month, and I know you all have lost much in this war, but… I'm not coping, and my head just isn't thinking straight because of that. I will _never_ betray you, any of you, but… I love them like I love you. And I know in my spark that despite the way they are, they love me too."

Everyone is silent, unsure of what to say. I finally look up to meet my daddy's eyes, and he seemed so lost. "I love you, Daddy, but you have to understand that I love them to. And I love _him_ as well, even in his death and after choosing power over me." I was tired from all the emotions of the day. My energy was spent, so I just sat down were I stood, curled into a ball, and buried my face into the back of my knees.

No one seemed to speak, but Damien took this as a cue to speak up. "It's late, and everyone seems exhausted. I can talk to her in the morning, and unless you all want some answers now, I can escort her to her room."

"That sounds like a good idea," Fowler said softly.

I couldn't see from my position, but I heard Damien quickly descend the stairs and approach me. I expected him to help me stand, but he merely scooped me up as if I weighed nothing. "God, your as weak as a kitten…" he murmured, too low for the Bots to here.

I was too drained to protest, so I let him carry me off. I mumbled directions of how to get to my room, which he thankfully didn't ask me to repeat. Once there, he went straight to my bed and carefully sat me down. Somehow he managed to slip off my boots and jacket without jostling me, then gently coaxed me to lie down.

As he pulled the covers over me, he said softly and warmly, "Get some rest sweetheart. Everything will be okay."

I murmur with my voice heavy with sleep, "Don't have a heart."

"Yeah, you do. You just can't see how strong it is."

With that, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

I did not want to wake up that morning. My body felt stiff, I knew my hair was a wreck, and I had fallen to sleep in my makeup after crying, so my face was probably a wreck too. Still, something felt out of place, and I knew I had to wake up.

Stretching, I sat up in bed slowly, trying to get the fuzziness of sleep from my brain. Slipping from bed, I head towards my bathroom off to the side of my loft-style room and try to make myself more presentable.

All during my shower and my getting dressed, something felt out of place. I could remember last night, the entire, gut wrenching conversation and my show of weakness in front of a man I barely knew. I slipped into one of my many form fitting bands tees, this one for my beloved Linkin Park, and stepped into some low waist, red skinny jeans. After putting on a silvery shadow with my base makeup, I head out of my room to see what chaos would ensue today.

Before I could even make it out to the main hall, I was literally tackled our resident wild child, Miko. As she pinned me on the floor, literally sitting on me with her hands holding down my shoulders, she asked with a light squeal to her tone, "Okay, who is the super hot guy out on the couch? Did you meet him last night at the race? Did he see the Bots and have to be initiated like us? He looks like a real bad boy—"

"Miko, could you please get off of her?" Bulk asks as he approaches us in the hallway. "You probably scared her to death."

"Only halfway…" I manage to say I try and process Miko's rapid fire questioning.

"But you wouldn't tell me anything about him, Bulk! You said to wait for Ev, and here she is!"

Looking towards the big green Bot, I ask, "Wait, he stayed the night?"

Bulk looked a bit nervous, then said, "Yeah, and we talked to him and gave basic introductions. Apparently he's going to be a permanent thing around here… He is supposed to follow you and act like a guardian or something on behalf of the military."

"You have got to be kidding me. I mean, the others can't possibly be okay with him here!"

Bulkhead looked even more nervous. "Optimus… already sanctioned him. He is officially your guardian."

"Wait," Jack interjects as he and Raf walk up. "Ev has a _human_ guardian? Isn't that a bit counterproductive since we always seem to get into _Con_ trouble?"

"Well, after… the Knock Out incident, Optimus thinks that a human guardian might be better able to keep an eye on Ev…"

My shoulders slump as I look away from the group. "He doesn't trust me anymore, does he?"

"Ev…"

"No, I understand. I screwed up royally this time. I'm going to fix this, though. I'm just going to have to grin and bare it…" With that, I walk past the concerned looks of the others into the open main room. The other Bots were there, talking quietly while Damien laid sprawled out along the couch over on the far platform.

When I entered the room, everyone looked over to me. Bulkhead and the three entered in behind me as well, but I merely walked over to the platform where Damien slept. Once I reach him, I grab his shoulder to shake him awake, but apparently, that was the wrong choice.

Within a few seconds, I found myself in a headlock with a boot knife to my throat. "Okay, note to self: don't wake sleeping strangers." I felt his tension immediately dissipate when I speak, and then he chuckles.

"Black Ops makes me a little… touchy. I'm not used to someone walking up on me so quietly."

I snort. "What in the frag did I do to warrant a Black Ops member as my babysitter? And could you maybe drop the knife before someone hurts you?" He looks up to see all the Bots tense, at the ready to grab him if he so much as flinched. Immediately, he let go of his headlock on me and sheathed his knife, but he did sling an arm over my shoulder.

"Sorry about that, Shadow. Habit. And seeing as how you ended up in a Mech helicopter, my superiors want me to keep an eye on you in case they try to contact you again…"

**I take it no one told the military about Ev's little plan…** Bumblebee bleeped.

"Uh," Damien said. "What did he say?"

Ratchet looked to Optimus. "Should we tell him? I mean, since you sanctioned him to live here, he is going to find out eventually."

"Find out what?"

I look at him, a serious look on my face. "Can we trust you keep something out of the military eyes for a while? We can't have this in the systems. Fowler already knows, but he hasn't told them yet, not until we actually get somewhere with this plan."

He looks confused for a moment but nods. "I've had my share of classified missions. I think I can handle this, so long as I don't think it could turn bad."

I take a deep breath, then I launch into the story. I told him the whole convoy story, the fake cover I gave them, and of how Silas wanted me to act as a mole within the Autobot group. "Of course I'm not going to give him any _real_ information, but if I give him intel that appears legit, I could work my way further into his favors and maybe gain some important intel on _them_."

Damien quirked an eyebrow and whistled in a low tune. "Wow. Never thought the big guy would agree to this," he replied as he jerked a thumb to my father.

"He didn't," Arcee tells him. "We were both outvoted and outmaneuvered, thank you _very_ much, Ratchet."

Ratchet merely rolls his eyes. "You know it's a good plan, and Ev is perfectly capable of handling this."

"It _is_ a good plan," Damien responds. "And I have some experience playing the part of a mercenary, so I think we could pull this off."

"We?" I ask, crossing my arms and looking questionably at him.

He just grins at me. "So I think I can keep this on the down low for now, but let's skip to the Q and A. Do you want to go first or should I?"

Miko spoke first, a stern look on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest and jutted a hip out to the left. "Who exactly are you, and how do you know of Ev's other name?"

He merely shrugged. "My name is Damien Blackwater. Been a foster system brat for as long as I could remember. Joined the army when I was seventeen, 'died' when I was eighteen, and have in Black Ops ever since. I'm twenty-three by the way. As for her name, she told me that name at the Badlands race a few nights ago." Everyone grew stiff at the mention of me being at a different race. "Now my turn: What's up with the name Shadow, and where's the red car, the one she called Knock Out at the race, and why does everyone not seem to like that guy so much?"

Everyone looked to me, and I sighed. "Shadow, well Shadow Tronus, is the name my… other father gave me. I use it as an alias sometimes, such as with Silas. And Knock Out… used to work for my other father before he died. Now he work's under my dad's successor, Starscream, the useless little fragger… They are all Decepticons."

"What is that Badlands race he was talking about?" Raf piped in.

"Yes," Ratchet continues, crossing his arms. "Enlighten us."

I quickly glare at Raf half-heartedly before explaining. "Its… the first race I went to with Knock Out, a few nights ago. It didn't end to well… we got into an argument and didn't even finish the race, so he practically begged me to come with him last night, to make up for the other night. I meant for this to be a one time thing, just to see my brothers and burn some adrenaline but… I said yes."

Everyone seemed relieved at my answer. I guess they thought I might have been racing with Knock Out for some time now. Damien spoke up. "Okay, now that the race thing is settled, can someone explain to me the whole Decepticon thing? And about her 'other' father? I've already been briefed that she is half human and Optimus' daughter, but no one said anything about another father."

"Megatron," my dad states simply. "He and I used to be friends, brothers before this war, but now he leads the Decepticons, the Cybertronians that side against the Autobot ideals. He and his men consider Everon to be there princess, and in a way, she is.

"Rather than a heart, Cybertronians have sparks, which is like a solid form of energy. When a fellow Cybertronian is injured, we can sometimes perform what is called a spark shock through a sliver from two separate Cybertronians' sparks being joined to prolong their life until help can arrive. I tried this once when Everon's mother was gravely injured, which led to the creation of Everon. The only Cybertronian nearby was Megatron himself, who gave me the spark sliver as a final recognition of the brotherhood we once shared."

"How'd the Cons find out about her anyway?" Damien asked.

"Ev snuck out on a battlefield when she was seven," Jack explained.

"She yelled Daddy to Optimus," Miko continued, "and old Buckethead put two and two together. He then kidnapped her and held her on his warship till she ran away when she was twelve."

Damien whistled. "That explains why you are okay with being around the Cons."

"They raised me like I was family, Knock Out and Breakdown called me their sister, and Megatron bent over backwards to try and gain my trust," I told him.

"I was going to say Stockholm syndrome." Everything moved fast after that. I swung, hitting Damien right in the face, and before I could swing again, I felt myself being picked up.

"Daddy, put me down!" I scream as I flail uselessly in his hand.

He ignored me as he turned to Damien. "I'm sorry about this: the subject is a bit of a sensitive one." I screamed in frustration as I quit flailing in his hand and merely growled to myself.

Damien rubbed his jaw before speaking to the Prime. "It's fine, I should know better than to bring that up. Should of known she would be a bit touchy about the subject, but man, does she have a hell of a right hook."

My dad gave him a nod before giving me one last stern look and sitting me back on the platform. "Behave…" he growled, but his tone had a hint of a soft, protective nature in it.

I sigh but nod, then reach out of habit for my shard. That's when I freeze. I look down, but I can't find the shard anywhere. The necklace and my dog tags were gone. Damien starts speaking again unaware of my inner panic. "So, since I am supposed to keep track of you, I think it might be beneficial if you tell me who that boyfriend of yours is."

"Boyfriend?!" everyone seems to yell at once.

"Ev does not have a boyfriend," Jack interjects.

"Yeah!" Miko continues. "She would have told us. Or at least me."

Damien quirked an eyebrow then looked at me grinning as I felt my cheeks flush. "Well, she told me she had a boyfriend who has the same Ferrari as me with a supercharged engine and all."

Bulkhead bursts out laughing and Arcee smirks while the others look on in confusion. "Ev was describing Jackie!" he explains while trying to rein in his laughing.

I bury my face in my hands as Damien asks me, "Who?"

"He's an Autobot who's off planet right now, and he scanned _your_ car when he was picking his vehicle mode. That's why I reacted so weirdly when I saw your car: I recognized the paint scheme. Look, I need to go to my room now…"

"Why did you say he was your boyfriend?" Raf asked innocently.

"I really need to…"

At this point, I swear I could have strangled Miko. "Jackie and Ever, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I—"

"MY DOG TAGS AND NECKLACE ARE MISSING SO IF YOU ALL DON'T MIND, I'M GOING TO GO FIND THEM!"

Everyone went silent, then wide-eyed. "When did you last see them?" Arcee asked.

"Maybe they're in your room. I can go check—"

"I hope she didn't leave them with Knock Out—"

"It could've just fallen off—"

"Oops." Everyone stopped talking and turned to Damien. "I took them off last night when you were half awake." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tags and my shard. "Guess I accidentally walked out with—"

I lunge forward and snatch them away, but the shard begins to glow as soon as I touched it. I blinding bluish white light filled the room, and as it faded, comforting warmth seemed to fill me. As I look around the room, I could see the shock and confusion on everyone's face.

Ratchet broke the deafening silence. "Everon… is that… is that an Airrant? Is that an After Stone?" Slowly, I nod, suddenly very shy and reserved. "Slagging Primus! What were you thinking?! Forget that, who gave it to you?!"

"Whoa, easy Ratchet," Jack says as he and the others make their way to me, where Damien had already pulled me back behind in him. "What—"

"Jack, stay out of this," Arcee tells him.

"No, you're yelling at _my _sister over a glowing rock. So before this conversation goes any farther, you might want to tell us humans what that is." The whole time he is speaking, I'm clutching the stone near my chest, holding tight as if it might disappear if I were to relax my grip for even a second.

"That rock," Ratchet explains as calmly as he could at the moment, "is the equivalent of a human asking another to marry them, only this bond is permanent: you can't love another person except the person who accepted the stone. The only stage more sacred is an actual spark bond once the two have exchanged Airrants. Since Everon can't access her spark chamber, I assume that this bond is one way. Now the big question: who gave it to you?!"

I felt myself shrinking, trying to think of a way to avoid the question. "He gave it to me before telling me what it is: I told him he shouldn't have wasted it on a human who will die before he even could think of rusting…"

"Ev," Arcee interrupts. "Is it a Con? Knock Out?"

My jaw drops. "Oh frag no! Primus, he is like my _brother_. And he's not a Con."

Bulkhead steps forward. "Is it Wheeljack?" I'm silent, and he then nods. "Knew Jackie had feelings for ya, but I didn't think he would actually act on them…"

Miko squeals in delight. "I knew it! I knew you two liked each other! In your face, Jack, I so called it!" Jack just stood with his jaw open, staring at me in disbelief.

"Of all the Cybertronians…" Ratchet mutters, "…it had to have been slagging Wheeljack."

I look to my dad who had been very quiet during this discussion. His face seemed calm, so I ventured to gain his attention. "Daddy…"

He looked and smiled slightly to me and smiled. "I already knew of Wheeljack's giving you his Airrant. He came to me afterwards and apologized for not asking for my blessing beforehand. I told him so long as you are happy, he would have my full blessing."

"Optimus!" Ratchet yelled. "You knew this whole time, and you didn't think to tell one of us?"

"It was Everon and Wheeljack's right to decide when to tell us. I just assumed they would upon his return."

"So," Damien drawled out. "When is this Wheeljack planning on coming back?"

"Don't know," Arcee responded. "The guy is a bit of a lone wolf, and if it weren't for Bulkhead being his close friend and Ev for reasons we just discussed, I don't think he would ever consider coming back for long, much less settling down. Why?"

Damien merely grinned and said, "Because I wanted to know how long I had to win over Ev before the competition comes back."

I promptly fainted.

* * *

**And now we have our newest OC introduced to the story! If you have anything you want me to clarify about Damien in the coming chapters, just ask. I want to make sure that everyone understands his character. Anyway, please review!**


	17. Chapter 14

Dodge. Kick. Flip. Punch.

The movements were reflexive, as if they were programmed into my DNA. I guess you could say they were.

"Okay, I'm impressed." Ground kick. He jumps into the air. "Whoever your teacher is, he really knows his stuff." Another punch. This one clips his shoulder.

"Don't talk when fighting." Flip backwards, gain a stance, lunge. I tackle him to the ground and flip safely away before he can catch his breath. "It distracts you from your opponent."

Secretly, I loved this. I hadn't had a proper sparring partner in… well I've never really had a proper sparring partner. I've never even really had proper training.

"Okay," Damien pants from the ground while looking up at the ceiling. While making a T symbol with his hands, he announces, "Time." He rolls over to where he is sitting cross-legged on the floor. I grab our water bottles from the side and toss him his while I move to sit across from him. After taking a drink and catching his breath, he asks, "Who taught you?"

I merely shrug. "Took lessons when I was a kid. The teacher was frustrated because I had to be advanced to the next level class every few weeks: I learned way too fast. Eventually I just stopped going."

His eyes seemed to bug out of his head. "How did you learn to fight then?"

"Instinct," I state simply. When he looks even more shocked than before, I explain. "I have two dads who can kick ass, one of which is a former gladiator from Kaon which means he should _not_ be taken lightly. Also, I've seen both sides train, especially the Cons."

He nods. "Explains why you fight so dirty."

As he moves to stand up, I grab his arm and flip him over my head, onto his stomach, and I stand with one of my feet on his back while pulling his arm upwards into a slightly painful position. I bend over so my head was closer to his as he struggles futilely to get free.

"Yeah, you might want to remember that." I then let go of his arm and saunter out of the room. "I'm going to go get ready for school. Hurry up and get ready if you're gonna keep insisting on driving me."

* * *

I slam the door to his Ferrari. "Aw, c'mon. Just because you're frustrated with me, don't take it out on the car!" I roll my eyes and don't even bother to look back at Damien.

"If you're gonna insist on driving me, expect it." I wish I could have driven my bike. It was in serious need of a good workout, seeing as how it has been neglected as of late. Now, thanks to Damien, it was going to be even more neglected. Apparently, in order to watch over me more efficiently, he needed to drive me to and from school.

Which means for a half an hour twice a school day, I was going to have to be stuck in a car with him.

Today had been filled with not so subtle flirting. He had been pretty good about keeping the flirting low key at the base, but since we were alone in his car, I guess he took that as a cue to amp up the flirting. Surprising how cocky a guy can get when a girl's overprotective family isn't hovering nearby.

Don't get me wrong. Damien is a nice guy, and he's fun to be around. I actually _enjoy _his company. The only problem: his desire to be _more_ than friends even though I'm in a relationship, which he not so casually explained the other night. And then I fainted. Which is _extremely_ embarrassing by the way.

I just don't understand why he would be this interested in me.

I'm not an idiot: I know I'm attractive. I wouldn't have to deal with idiots like Vince if I wasn't. I'm just not used to having two guys so openly showing an interest in me. I don't see whatever draw I have to allure two guys who are not only awesome but have every reason in the book to not want to get involved with me.

With Wheeljack, I _know_ he was serious. He already practically gave me his soul, and I can't give it back. I love him too, but the issue: I'm human. I have a Cybertronian heart, but my form is human, and we would never truly be together, plus I would die _long_ before Wheeljack could be considered middle-aged.

Damien is a wild card. I can't tell if he really likes me, or if I've merely caught his attention for the moment. Ever since his little admission, we haven't discussed anything of it: we act like it never happened. Miko insists that he has been flirting like crazy though, and I'm just not noticing it.

Also, what makes the situation even _more_ awkward: I'm sixteen. Sure I'll turn seventeen in about two weeks, but there is still a huge age gap. Damien is about six and a half years my senior, and though age doesn't really bother me, trying to use it as an excuse backfired on me the other day.

I told Damien about our huge age gap, he proceeded to hunt down Ratchet and then asked the medic for Wheeljack's approximate age in comparison to humans.

He's fragging twenty-six. Twenty-six!

Ratchet then went into a long explanation of how Cybertronians are known to have larger age gaps between bond mates than humans, but his explanation still didn't help my case. At least he showed that he preferred my relationship with Wheeljack to one with Damien.

Everyone seemed to be on the fence about the two like me. Either the Autobot who is committed to me but a different race, or the human who is unpredictable but is actually the same species as me. Or, he is at least _closer_ to the same species as me.

The big thing though? I love Wheeljack. That I'm sure of. But if I truly love him, would I make him stay and watching me quickly whither and die before his eyes? Or should I send him away, to save him that pain? I don't know what would be easiest on him…

I sigh as I enter the combination into my locker and yank it open. Before I empty my backpack though, something catches my attention. A little, black phone, one of the disposable kind, buzzes in my pocket.

I glance at my surroundings, looking to see if anyone is nearby or maybe watching. Once I think the coast is clear, I quickly throw my books into my locker and grab anything that I might need. Then I slam the locker and head to the bathroom.

Once I reach the bathroom, I flip the phone open and see a simple, one-word text message. _Call_. So I dialed the number the number on the phone while leaning against the bathroom counter on the far end of the room. Thank Primus that I had gotten to school early today.

Barely after one ring, I get an answer. _"Well, someone certainly is an early riser today."_

"My sparring partner unfortunately wasn't very interesting today, so I cut him loose and now I have some free time to kill," I tell him casually. "So Silas, are you actually going to give me an assignment or are you going to make me wait _another_ week for any word from you?"

He chuckles on the other end of the line. _"You definitely are not a morning person. And I am sorry about that: both the sparring partner and the wait. We thought it would be most prudent for you to adjust to the new team before we tried contacting you. You did get assigned to the team with the living robots, didn't you?"_

"They are apparently called Cybertronians, this particular team being called Autobots, but yes, I did. Apparently they had plans to make me a member of the team from the beginning. That's why I was traveling with Fowler and the Bots. Go figure."

I had discussed this with the others. Fowler had heavily encrypted my files in the Pentagon, and Raf threw in a few fake files of my past with some decoy encrypting, but we fear that Mech will still find out eventually. Fowler and Raf couldn't encode everything. My identity wasn't going to last long: Silas and Mech would find out soon. So I had to milk this next month or two for what it's worth, before they get wise to who I really was. My lies were very shaky, especially once they actually find my _real _files.

"_Excellent. Now, I want you to try and gather as much information about what makes these organisms tick: I want to know their strengths and weaknesses. I will contact you soon for a meeting."_

"Alright, I'll see what I can gather up."

"_Keep up the good work. I don't plan on keeping you there for long: maybe a month, tops. When I meet you to gather the information, I plan to take you as well. You are too valuable an asset to risk discovery. Good day, my dear."_

"Don't call me that." He chuckles again, and then I hear a click of the phone line being cut. I sigh, then mutter, "Scrap."

* * *

Stupid Silas. I could have been out patrolling with Arcee and Jack, but_ no_. I'm stuck at base, being debriefed about my phone call. You think it would be a simple, 'what did he say' and 'keep us informed,' but my dad and the others decided to go all 'let's nit pick every worse case scenario before we let Ev finish telling us about the phone call.'

Take deep breaths, Ev. No getting pissed off. Nice happy thoughts… like Wheeljack squishing Vince. Yeah, that would be pretty nice.

"Daddy," I say as calmly and sweetly as possible. He and the others then turn their attention to me. "We can discuss what may or may not happen to me later. Right now, maybe I should actually tell you what was _said_ during the phone call."

"I second that!" Damien interjects with an arm in the air from where he lounges out on the couch. He seemed to obviously be as exasperated as me about the Bots fretting over me. "We need to know what exactly Silas wants from her, so that way we can twist this situation to our advantage. I want to be able to use this advantage for as long as it's safe for Ev."

"Well, we might not have a very big window." When everyone looks to me for an explanation, I tell them the details of Silas' call. After a moment of silence, the entire room erupts with shouts of protest. "Whoa, whoa, everyone calm down!"

"We need to put an end to this mission, now," my dad states.

"Wait, what? This is a good plan—" I start to argue, but Ratchet cuts me off.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with your father, Everon. When I originally said that we should allow this, I thought it would be a mission where you could work out of the line of danger, not actually be brought into the organization!"

"I thought you all understood: this is what the plan was for from the beginning. If I'm in the Mech organization, I can help gather information to bring it down from the inside."

"Everon, it's only a matter of time before Silas realizes that you are not some ruthless mercenary. I mean, your cover identity is faulty at that! If he realizes that the files Raf made were false—"

"We can't pull her out," Damien interjects, suddenly standing and seeming very serious. "Pull her out now, and we have nothing on Mech, but they will have a target on her. The best way to keep her safe is to take down the organization, which means we need to cut off its head."

"We need to catch Silas," Bulkhead states, his face determined but his eyes worried. Damien nods his head.

**We can keep her safe, Optimus, **Bumblebee bleeps to my dad. **She can protect herself as well.**

My dad looks to me, his eyes fearful for what may happen. I smile softly and hold my hand out to him. He sighs resignedly and holds his hand out to me so I can grasp his finger. He smiles to me, but I can see that it doesn't reach his eyes.

"I take it that this means the mission is still on?" Damien asks.

My dad turns to look at him and says, "On one condition: I want you to train my daughter so that she will know how to act around the Mech members and Silas. I want to make sure that she is as well prepared for this as possible."

Damien grinned to me, showing obvious signs that he was going to enjoy this. I crossed my arms and scowled at him, but then I gave a feral grin. "At least I already know that I can kick your aft in hand to hand combat."

His smile was wiped clean off his face as Bulk and Bee tried to stifle their laughter, and Ratchet and my dad smirk at Damien and I.

* * *

It had been two hours. Two hours since Jack and Arcee had left for their scouting mission. Jack with his stupid little survival kit, and Arcee claiming that they would be back quickly, so there was no need for me to come. They should have been back by now, but they were not only still gone, but they were out of comm communications.

My dad, Bulk, and Bee had gone out on patrol a while ago with Miko and Raf heading with their respective partners, and Damien had to have a meeting with Agent Fowler. So here I was, sitting with Ratchet, trying to focus on the system updates. After a bit, Ratchet says, "You know that they will be fine. It's a simple recon mission, one that Arcee can handle. She wouldn't have taken Jack along otherwise."

I can't help but sigh. "Still doesn't mean I'm not going to get twitchy about it… They've been gone a while." Ratchet raises a brow as he looks at me. "He's my brother, forgive me for being a little overprotective… The idiot probably got himself stuck in a ditch or something…"

Ratchet's silent for a moment, never taking his eyes from the screen before him, then he says, "You know, you never properly tested those stinger guns, the ones you took with you on the convoy mission: an unpopulated forest would be a great place to practice as well…"

I grin from where I sit on his shoulder, and then I place a quick kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Ratchet!"

As I slide off his shoulder onto the computer station in front of him, a momentary look of shock passes over his face from the kiss, and then he lightly laughs. "Just promise to be careful. I know Prime won't mind you going, and I think you could use some space from Damien."

I was already running down the platform stairs at this point. "Cue up the ground bridge for me while I throw on my combat boots and gun holster, will ya?"

* * *

Soon, I was stepping through the ground bridge portal at the coordinates that Jack and Arcee arrived from. Looking around, I see some of Arcee's tracks, so I decide to follow them. Unfortunately, I start to get a bad feeling. I reach slowly for my holster, then I draw and spin around while yelling, "Come on out! I know your there."

A hear a dark chuckle, and a Cybertronian femme lowers herself from the trees. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here: another human."

As I look at her, I take in her unique structure: she had spider like appendages coming from the lower portion of her torso and a long skirt looking sheath that enclosed her legs. Her armor was painted ebony and a deep purple with hints of gold paint decals, and two black horn structures came out from her head. As for her face, the metallic structure was a whitish color, one similar to Knock Out, and two bright purple eyes glowed for her optics.

She practically _screamed_ trouble.

I had already determined she was of Decepticon origin, if not from my gut then from the insignia she wore. "Tell me, little girl: what are you doing out here all alone? That little toy can't possibly defend you…"

"Would you like me to test it?" I ask her threateningly.

She looks startled for a second but then smirks to me. "Why, aren't you a spunky litt—"

I shoot right next to her head, and she staggers backwards. "Call me spunky again, and the next shot will be aimed to hit, not miss."

She grins at me. "Oh you are going to be _so _much more fun then Arcee's little pet was…"

Fear grips me. "Jack? What did you do to him!? Where are they?!"

She takes my momentary distraction as a chance to lunge. I dodge to the side and take a shot, hitting one of her spindly legs causing her to cry out in pain. "You will regret that, you little brat! I will make them watch as I slowly tear you apart from the inside out!"

She lunged again, and this time I barely managed to dodge, but not before she manages to hit me with one of her clawed legs. I hiss in pain as my arm begins to bleed, but I retake a stance and aim my gun at her once again. "I'd stop if I were you: You've already found out that this thing can pack a punch."

She ignores my threat and turns her attention to my wound on my arm. She smiles in a predatory way, then coos, "Oh, you poor little youngling… that must hurt… especially the poison." I flinch as I realize the stinging that is beginning to slowly work its way up my arm. _Scrap_. "It should be able to work it's way slowly to your heart… The pain becomes too great by that point for even the strongest of Cybertronians to survive, so you will certainly perish soon…" She looks like she is going to continue to goad me, but then her face grows puzzled. "I thought human blood was red…"

My gaze flickers to my arm, and I see the purplish blood dripping slowly down my arm and to the ground. She smiles again. "You aren't completely human, are you? Amazing: I can now add a half breed to my collection…" With that comment, I shoot at her again, and while she hisses in pain from the shot to the chest, I take off into the woods.

"Oh I love a good challenge…" I hear her say from a slight distance off. I don't hesitate: I keep moving. My arm is throbbing by this point, but I ignore it and move. I have to find Arcee and Jack. Thinking that I would find them quickly, I didn't even bother to grab my comm earpiece when I left the base, much less my phone. I needed to get to them as soon as possible.

Soon though, I hear distant footsteps. They weren't the spider Con's steps: these were human. And I prayed to the Allspark that they were my human's.

Changing my course slightly, I continue running through the trees. I could no longer here my pursuer, and I could only hope that it was due to the fact that I lost her. Ever since I was little, I could move silently. My steps have never made much noise, and when I focused, such as now, I made little to no noise at all. That's how I accidentally snuck up on Damien the other night.

And that's how I just managed to sneak up on Jack, who took a swing at me when I grabbed his shoulder.

"What the frag!" I yell as I barely dodge his swing.

"Everon! Thank god you're here. There's this Con here: she has Arcee stuck to a cliff wall, and she's been tracking me."

"Yeah, the rouge-Con. She and I had a run in with each other. We need to keep moving." I go to grab his arm and pull him along, but I end up hissing in pain.

"Whoa, Ev, what happened?" Jack asked, immediately worried by the gruesome looking gash on my arm.

"It's nothing: the wound isn't bad, it's just stuff she coats her talons in up the pain level. I'll be fine once we get out of this situation. For now, I can't do much with it."

He looks unconvinced, and justifiably so since I _was_ lying to him about the poison, but he doesn't protest when I pull him forward so we could keep moving. "Just tell me if it gets worse."

"Alright," I tell him, obviously lying. There wasn't much he could do. I just needed him to keep moving and believe I was okay. I'll just have to grin through the pain… "Wait, " I say suddenly. I pull one of my guns from my holster and hand it to him. "This will do a lot more damage then a punch. Just don't shoot me. Or yourself for that matter, okay?"

A quick nod, and we are moving again. Soon, I'm forced to grab Jack's arm to stop him. "Whoa!" he yells, but then he looks down and sees the small canyon he almost fell into. He offers me a quick smile, and then we begin to climb down the rock wall. It was extremely difficult for me, given my bum arm, but I masked my pain from Jack. We both had put our hopes in each to get ourselves, and Arcee out of this, and I wasn't going to let my pain ruin his hopes in me.

Even if I could feel the poison slowly creeping towards my chest.

After climbing up the canyon's other side, I hear the Con rapidly approaching us. "C'mon Jack!" I yell as I yank him up over the canyon edge and take off running while still pulling his stumbling form along. I hear a thunk, and I risk a look back to see that the Con had easily jumped over the small canyon.

I pull Jack to another side of a tree so he could catch his breath momentarily. As he looks dumbfounded and unsure of what to do with the gun I had given him, I think to myself, _Wheeljack, forgive me, but if it comes down to getting him or myself out of here alive, I'm choosing my brother._ With that thought, I quickly kiss my shard, which seems to faintly glow for a second.

Then, we were off again.

"You two are making this too easy: my dear girl, the boy is slowing you down. You might have more of a chance if you quit dragging him along. He isn't even a challenge for me. You are the real prize… he is boring. And I do not enjoy being bored." Jack sends me a look of surprise, but I just scowl at him then keep moving. I wasn't going to abandon him.

Ducking behind yet another tree, I quickly place a hand over his mouth and use a slow up and down motion with my hand so he could focus on how to slow his heavy breathing. The clicking of metallic legs could be heard approaching, followed by the Con's voice. "Now where did you scamper off to?"

We then ducked down into a clearing. A clearing, that is, with a huge ship crashed into the ground. I can't help but give a low whistle. "That's the Con's ship," Jack said.

"I figured as much…" A plan quickly popped into my head, one that I knew Jack wouldn't approve of. "Stay here, and stay _quiet_." I then proceed to dart down to the mouth of the ship, and then I run up the ramp, with Jack fortunately listening to me and staying put.

As soon as we are on the ship, I feel like puking. The heads of multiple alien species decorated the various sides of the ship's corridor, and a few slots were still open towards the end.

"If you had wanted a tour, dear girl, you should have asked," a familiar voice asked. Footsteps could be heard as she walked up the ramp, and I ran forward into the ship, intent on seeing my plan through to the end. "Did you see the empty space? I hope you like it. It's where you'll soon hang your head."

Once I finally finish messing with the proper pipes and regulating circuitry, she speaks once more. "I never got your name, child. A half-breed like you should have a plaque, and I don't think you wish me to label you 'Mutt.'"

"I have two names," I tell her as I step out of a little alcove to the side of her. She turns to look at me, a grin playing on her features.

"Well, I hope it's more interesting then your little friend Jack's name." Her smile grows predatory as she inches forward.

"_Jack_," I tell her in a threateningly calm way, causing her to stop her approach. "Is my brother, in every way but blood. You will _never_ lay a finger on him. My mother was a human who received a spark shock, resulting in me. As for my names, each of my father's gave me one. My deceased father named me Shadow Tronus." She took a step back, shock filling her optics as she recognized the name. "My daddy named me Everon Prime. Remember the name!"

With that, feeling the poison taking its final grips around my heart, I turn to the energon regulation line, pull my gun, and shoot. The Con rushed forward, yelling in protest, but it was too late. The electrical backfire shot its way into the energon tank, and as I felt the ship begin to blow apart and gripped my Airrant, I could only think of one thing.

_Wheeljack, forgive me. I love you._

Then there was a flash of light, followed by darkness and destruction.

* * *

**That's where I'm going to end the chapter. Please don't hate me: I will have another chapter up next week. Until then, review! And read my other story please and review for that one as well!**


	18. Damien

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or any of the songs I use in this chapter.**

* * *

I've known fear. Anyone who says they have never felt fear is obviously a liar. Fear is a basic instinct, one that is engraved into our basic DNA. I've felt it during a firefight in Kuwait, during a raid in Mumbai, and I've felt in many other instances.

But none of them compared to that one phone call.

I was at my meeting with Fowler. We were discussing her future, talking about training ideas for better preparing her to deal with Mech. The first time my phone rang, I hit ignore. I did the same thing the second time. By the third call, I held up my finger to Fowler to motion that I would only be a moment, and as I turn away from him, I snap, "What?"

_"Everon_'s_ hurt!"_

My blood went cold, and I nearly dropped the phone. "What happened, Miko? How bad is it?"

_"I don't know! They didn't tell us _anything!_" _The poor girl sounded hysterical. _"They just told us there was an explosion and all the Bots left through the ground bridge and Raf and I are here alone manning the ground bridge alone and… and… and…"_

"Have Raf open a bridge to my phone's location. Fowler and I will come to the base immediately." I shut the phone, feeling numb, unable to answer the questions Fowler was throwing at me. Soon, the ground bridge portal opened, and I rushed through, Fowler following right behind me.

As I head towards the command platform, Miko rushes down and grabs me in a tight hug, crying into my chest. I'm too flustered to be of much comfort to the girl. Seeing my distress, Fowler comes forward to usher the young girl to the side so she can fill him in on the situation. I, on the other hand, head towards the control platform where Raf is quietly sitting, staring at his laptop. The only sign that something is wrong with him is how his shaking hands hover over the keys.

"Raf," I say, snapping the boy's attention away from the screen. "Any word? Or maybe an explanation?"

His voice is as shaky as his hands. "No, nothing. They still haven't reported back. We don't know anything other then that their was an attack and an explosion, and… and Ev was in the explosion."

I felt like growling in frustration. Not at the poor, scared boy: he had done nothing wrong. The situation just left me feeling helpless. Deciding that I couldn't just sit here, I walk over to the comm station and attempt to get some answers from someone.

"This is base to the Autobot team. Can we get an update?" Silence. "Hello? What's going on?" Again, nothing. "Somebody answer me, God damn it!"

_"Ratchet to base. We don't have time to talk, you will get an update when you get it!"_ Bulkhead could be heard in the background calling to Ratchet. _"I have to go!"_

This time, I really did growl to myself before slamming my fists down on the panel. "She'll be okay, soldier." I look up to Fowler standing next to me, fear evident in his eyes.

"You don't look like you truly believe that."

With a slightly defeated look, he responds, "All you can do is hope."

That's when Ratchet popped back on the comm link. _"Raf, open the ground bridge, now! Everyone, clear away from the med bay. Damien meet me there: I need you're help!"_

Everything moved so quickly after that. As I heard the ground bridge fire up, I raced past Fowler and Miko to the med bay as Ratchet had ordered. I turned just in time to see Ratchet racing in, his hands cradling a prone form while the others raced in after him.

As he reached the medical station, he laid the form on one of the medical gurneys, and I rushed over to slide to a stop next to her. She was paler then normal, scratches and small burns covering her, and her t-shirt and jeans were ripped in some places. The worst wound was a long, jagged gash on her right arm. It was swollen and inflamed, and her normally vivid purple blood had and ugly, greenish tint to it from where it seeped from the wound.

The worst fact was that she wasn't breathing.

"If you're going to help," Ratchet told as he grabbed several pieces of human equipment, "You need to go into this with a clear head. I will not risk her life if you cannot remain clinical and methodical during her treatment. Am I understood?"

My response is immediate and firm. "What ever I need to do, just help me save her life." He nodded, and we began.

* * *

Two hours, forty-seven minutes, and an unknown amount of seconds. That's how long it took to stabilize her. Funny how we think of the most insignificant things during a crisis.

Though, by stabilize, I don't mean that she is fully stable. Ratchet and I did everything we could, but between her running around guiding Jack through the forest and the trauma from the blast, the poison from Airachnid's talon had integrated itself well into her systems. Her heart was fragile right now, and no one was sure if she would pull through this.

Only time would tell.

I felt like punching something, yelling in a rage, even taking on the Con who did this to her. But I couldn't pull myself from her side. I just sat here, as I have for the past three days, wishing she would just open her eyes. I yearned to see her silver eyes again.

Everyone was tense. Jack and Arcee were inconsolable, both being overly harsh with themselves about what happened to her. They sit together in the corner of the base. Neither would leave her, but they couldn't seem to come close to her. Jack's mother is under the impression that Everon was in a car accident on base, so she was confined to the base hospital for the time being and only Jack could come visit due to 'regulations.'

The other Bots were shells of who they once were, none leaving the base but Bulkhead and Bumblebee, and that was only to pick up and drop off Miko and Raf who came everyday as soon as school let out. Today was a Saturday, so they both got here around seven and have been quietly talking off to the side ever since.

Ratchet lost himself to work, constantly rechecking Everon's vitals or making sure that the rest of us were eating and sleeping properly. Optimus just sat in his truck form, right next to the platform where her gurney sat.

"Um… Damien?" I look up to see Miko, awkwardly standing there while holding her guitar. I had been so lost in thought, watching Ev, that I hadn't even heard her approach. "Would you mind if I…" She gestured to her guitar. "It's not a Slash Monkey type song, but I thought… she loves music."

I smile at the girl. "I'm sure it would be fine." She smiles graciously, then moves to stand on the other side of the gurney. The guitar wasn't hooked up to any amps, so the music was quiet, but then again the entire base was silent.

"Hey, Ev," she says. "I hope you like this… it's just a guitar version of the song, and I changed some of the pacing, but… well just listen."

The first few notes are a bit low, and then grew stronger, yet she still played them at a slow pace. Something in the notes sounded familiar, and when Miko began to sing, I recognized the song, one that sadly fit our team's situation.

"_Separate. Sifting through the wreckage,  
__I can't concentrate, searching for a message  
__In all the fear and pain! Broken down and waiting  
__For a chance, to feel alive…_

"_Now in my remains!  
__Are promises that never came.  
__Set the silence!  
__To wash away the worst of me._

"_Come apart. Falling in the cracks  
__Of every broken heart. Digging through the wreckage  
__Of your disregard. Sinking down and waiting  
__For the chance, to feel alive…_

"_Now in my remains!  
__Are promises that never came.  
__Set the silence!  
__To wash away the worst of me._

"_Like an army, falling…  
__One by one by one…  
__Like an army, falling…  
__One by one by one…_

_Like an army, falling…  
__One by one by one…  
__Like an army, falling…  
__One by one by one…_

"_Now in my remains!  
__Are promises that never came.  
__Set the silence!  
__To wash away the worst of me._

_"Like an army, falling…  
__One by one by one…  
__Like an army, falling…  
__One by one by one…"_

As she let the final note play out, we all held our breath, waiting, watching, hoping. We all wanted her to wake up, for the song to bring back our girl, to bring back our Everon.

Nothing.

Miko deflated, looking sad and dejected as she turned to walk away. "I thought… I hoped that would work."

I quickly get up and walk to the unnaturally solemn Asian girl. "I'm sure she heard it. You just need to give her time… She will wake up."

In an unexpected bout of rage, Miko spun on me, her guitar nearly hitting me in the gut. "How do you know?! You don't know if we will ever get her back! Airachnid _poisoned_ her, and I heard you and the Bots talking! I know it's still in her systems. I know it's fatal to _Cybertronians_. So tell me how you expect her, who's part _human_, to survive! How?!"

My response is mechanical, low, but full of emotion. "Because she has to. Because we need her to. _I _need her to. We need to keep hope: you need to hope your friend will live, as do I. It's all we have. If she doesn't live…" My voice breaks. In a whisper I add, my gaze dropping to the floor as I fall to my knees, finally beginning to crack. "I never told her that I was falling for her…"

I heard a gasp, and when I turn around, she was sitting up slightly propped on her elbow. A great sense of relief passed over me, but then I saw her shocked eyes and realized what I had just said. "Everon…"

She looked angry suddenly, and her eyes flashed and seemed to change a bit. "Why? What in the Pit does everyone see in me?! Why won't anyone see that I'm not the girl they hold up on a pedestal!" Her anger then all but vanished as she slumped onto her side, her breathing labored as she clutched her head.

I rushed forward as did Ratchet. Everyone seemed frozen in place as I hovered over Everon, whispering false assurances and comforting shushes, while Ratchet went over her vitals on the computer.

She began to scream as she curled into a ball, still clutching hair looking as if she was about to pull out her hair. "What is wrong with me?!" she yelled over and over again.

"Shh, everything will be just fine. Easy, Ev, I'm here." I throw a worried glance to Ratchet who walks over and scoops Everon up while I try to quickly pull off her IV and sensors. He then rushes over to a scanner and lays her out while she continues to scream. Once he finished there, she had begun to flail and start to pull on her hair, so he quickly hands her to me.

"Please, restrain her, she's going to hurt herself!" I sit on the ground and pull her to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her and grasping her wrists as she continues to scream and thrash.

"Easy, Ev. Just listen to me… I'm right here, okay?" I put her two tiny wrists into one of my larger hands, and then I use my free hand to pull her head to my chest. "Listen to my heart, okay? Listen to the beating. Focus on it okay? Whatever is going on in your head, just ignore it. Just focus on my heartbeat…"

Slowly the thrashing subsided, and her screams subsided to frustrated growls and eventually low whimpers. Soon, she whispered, "What is happening to me?" Then, she slumped over from exhaustion.

"I don't know," I tell her unconscious form before looking up to see the shocked-still Bots and human companions gathered around. "I just don't know…"

* * *

She was in her room. Sleeping.

It had been about five hours since Everon's freak out. I was currently sitting in a chair on the platform where Ev's three friends crashed together on the couch. Miko and Raf had finally coaxed Jack into sitting and talking to them. He was still a little shaken up over the experience, but we all were.

All of the Autobots, except Ratchet that is, felt that a little stress relief was needed. They were in the back training room practicing, and the occasional clang of metal could be heard even out here in the main room. Ratchet, though, had been working, again, but the stubborn medic finally fell to sleep, or into recharge. Whatever they call it. Anyway, I left him be, because he needed the sleep near as much as me.

Soon, though, I saw a form slinking from the shadows of the hall, slowly making its way along the wall towards my car. I get up to go check it out, shaking Jack's shoulder as I go. When I creep up on the figure that was about to open my Ferrari's car door, I casually ask, "Going for a drive, are we?"

"Primus!" Everon spun around and smacked me upside the head. She added, her tone low and hushed, "Do you want me to take your head off? Now if you'll excuse me…" As she turns back to the car, I slip an arm around her waist and pull her closer to me.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" She snorts and moves to walk away, but I wrap my arms around her slender waist, placing my chin on her shoulder. "Well?"

She snorts and responds as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "I'm going to a party. My friend just texted me the location."When I process her response, I finally notice what she is wearing.

Her outfit is pure punk: a large and black, wide neck band shirt that hung off one shoulder showed off her pale stomach, and it was paired with black and red tights under black short shorts. Her hair pulled into a tight, twisted bun with black chop sticks with silver designs, and a black choker hung a blood red pendant in the hollow of her throat while various black studs decorated her multiple ear piercings and her arms were wrapped in long, thin black strips of fabric. Her makeup couldn't have been darker with her black and red eyes and dark red lipstick giving her a dangerous vampire look.

The only thing that seemed normal was her leather, fingerless riding gloves, dog tags and that blasted shard.

"What in the hell kind of party are you going to?"

"Oh boy," Jack says as he, Miko, and Raf pad over to us. "I think I know."

* * *

"Turn left here!"

"How did I let Ev talk me into this?"

"Because you want to get into her pants."

"MIKO!"

"What does that mean?"

"I am not having this talk with you, Raf. Ask Miko."

"Oh, frag no!"

"We're here!"

_Finally_, I think as I park a little ways away from all the other cars. We were in the middle of _nowhere_. I have no idea what I'm doing at this party, much less why I brought Everon when she was in critical condition no less then five hours ago. I had told her no, but she had been dead set on going to this party. She was about ready to fight me to get here, and I would rather take her to the party then let her risk overexerting herself like that.

I look at my surroundings. People were milling in and out from their cars, each wearing outfits just as outlandish as Everon's, if not worse. A makeshift stage had been built off to the side, and many of the guys who had come in pick-up trucks were pulling out either car batteries or the occasional generator. Perpendicular to the stage was long line of tables, covered in various types of liquors and a small amount of sodas.

As she practically bolted from the car, leaving the rest of us to rush after her, I began to talk to the others. "Okay, rules: no drinking, no separating, no talking to anyone you don't know…"

"Trust me, Damien," Jack interjects. "This is probably the safest party for any underage minor to manage to get invited to. You'll see."

I start to interject, but I see Ev link arms with the last type of guy I would ever her near. Tattoos from head to toe, tons of piercings, and he looked to be about 6'5" and pure muscle. He screamed danger, and Ev was hanging from his arm and talking to him animatedly. "Shit."

Jack turned to see who I was looking at. "Actually, this is good." After seeing my what-the-hell look, he continued, "Just come with me."

We walk over to Ev and the giant man who immediately grinned at Jack. "Well, it's certainly been a while since I've seen you."

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly a party person. And the music is a bit…"

"Awesome!" Miko yells while banging her head to the heavy rock blaring from the various speakers hooked up to car batteries. She then spots a band setting up off to the side and practically squeals. "Do you think they will let me play?!"

The big guy chuckles. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind. You play guitar, am I right?" She bobs her head up and down rapidly. "Go see Bane. He's the guy with the chains and padlock around his neck." She's gone before he finished. Seeing my face, he chuckles again and addresses me. "Don't worry: Bane's a sweetheart. He will cave the moment she asks to play."

Ev grins and then moves to stand next to me. "This," she says while gesturing to me, "is my babysitter, Damien." I snort and cross my arms at her description of me. Her grin grows more impish as she continues to introduce the others. "You already met Jack at that party a few years back, this little guy is Raf, and the little firecracker who ran off is Miko." Turning to us and backing up to the giant, she stood slightly on her toes in her converses to attempt an arm over his shoulder. "This is Little John."

"Little John's been in the steroids," I say as I look at the massive man.

He just grins. "My real name is Jared. This one started calling me Little John after watching a Robin Hood movie, and everyone seemed to pick it up."

Ev still grinned like a fiend. She looked at Little John and said, "I'm claiming all of them. No one touches Miko, Raf, or Jack, though."

Little John nodded. "I figured, but what about him?" he asked while jerking a thumb towards me.

She looks at me with an evil smirk, one that I remember from the night of the race. "He's a big boy, he can handle himself." With that said, she moves to saunter off, but she looks over her shoulder and says, "Jack, can you keep an eye on Raf for me?"

I look at Jack, puzzled. "Why'd she ask you to watch Raf?"

Jack looks at Little John as he moves to stand on a box. "Because you are going to have your hands full…"

"Okay all you vermin!" Little John yells cheerily from his perch on the crate. Everyone pauses in their milling about to listen to him, and I can tell that he is someone who is more respected amongst the group.

"Our little girl has finally come back tonight!" Cheers erupted from the crowd as Little John gestures towards Everon who mock saluted from her spot leaning against the patchwork stage where she was talking to whom I can assume was the band leader. "She brought friends too: Jack is back, as well as three newbies: the kid, Raf; the wild child, Miko, who wants to play for us later; and Ev's new babysitter, Damien."

"I prefer overprotective friend!" I interject over the crowd's hoots and hollers.

Little John continued. "Alright, same rules for Ev apply for Jack, Miko, and Raf: no alcohol,…" Miko booed that rule. "…no weed, and no touching. They are all hands off! And I don't care that Ev turns seventeen in a week. Any of you drunken assholes lay a hand on her, the group will kick the crap out of you.

"As for soldier boy here," Little John says with a smirk on his face, "Ev says he's legal and fair game. Just don't break him."

I'm confused as to what he meant by that, but as soon as he finishes, I'm swarmed by random, semi-drunk women. _Oh shit_.

* * *

"Okay, girls. Let the poor man breathe." Little John shooed away the pouting women, while I sent him a silent thanks with my eyes. He chuckled and clapped my shoulder before guiding me towards the makeshift bar. "C'mon, you look like you could use a drink."

"You have no idea," I tell him as he reaches for a random bottle of vodka and takes a swig. "Can't though: I'm driving them back tonight."

He quirks an eyebrow. "Ev can drive fine, and I'm sure that brother of hers could always pick you guys up if you really needed it."

I snort and lean against the table. "She shouldn't even be out tonight. She should be resting." At Little John's confused face, I tell him a lie. "Car accident. Got a nasty gash on her arm. I only took her cause she had that look that said the only way I was keeping her from here was if I tied her down. What brother are you talking about anyway?"

"The one with the red charger and the chrome horns on the hood. I think he's a part of her father's squad: I've never talked to him face to face, just once or twice on the phone. Think his name was Cliff."

"Shit," I mumble. "Cliff died in action about a month back. Ev hasn't coping too well as of late."

Little John's face fell. "Holy… Poor Everon… She idolized him. How… God, the poor, poor, girl…"

"Yeah, I never got a chance to meet him. I met the team only recently." My gaze turned to Everon, where she mingled amongst the crowd. Changing the subject, I asked, "Is it really Ev's birthday next week?"

Little John chuckled. "Yeah, she doesn't really like it broadcasted so much, so we make a point of mentioning it each year. That and her singing... I never would of known if Jack hadn't of slipped and told me."

I grinned, ideas running through my head on how to celebrate. That's when I saw Everon begin to move towards the center of the dance floor as the band cued up. The leader, who I assumed to be the lead singer, came forward to the mike before beginning to speak.

"Alright, everybody! It's time for some real music. To start the party, Ev is gonna dance for us. I'm sure you all missed that!" Everyone hooted and hollered while Everon looked a little shy, but she began to pop her back and roll her shoulders just the same before pulling the chopsticks from her hair and let it fall in messy waves. "Now, here's a song you all should know…"

Then, as the singer stepped back, another man stepped forward and began to play the violin, eliciting cheers from the crowd. I wasn't familiar with the song, but it sounded both beautiful and haunting. As a low hum began to join the violin's sad notes, Everon began to move and twist with the music, and I was as entranced as the crowd.

She would move along with the violin, flowing up and down like a wave, creating a serenity amongst us by catching us in a spell. Her movements spoke of a modern dance style, but they seemed more natural then that, as if she were showing us who she truly was. Never had I been this enthralled by a simple dance before.

Then the violinist was accompanied by a slowly increasing amount of techno sounds, and Everon's movements continued, but at certain tones, she would pause, giving her dance a deeper grasp on her captive audience's attention. Eventually, a guitar tone began, and she jumped into the air, slamming her knees and fist onto the ground at the same moment the singer began his verse.

"_Crawling in my skin  
__These wounds they will not heal  
__Fear is how I fall  
__Confusing what is real."_

As the singer held out that note, she began to spin on her toes, and that's when I realized she had taken off her shoes and was dancing barefoot on the hard, dirt dance floor. She spun, lifting her leg slowly till it pointed straight up into the air, and when the singer started the next verse, she dropped suddenly into a crouch before moving to dance again.

"_There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface  
__Consuming, confusing  
__This lack of self-control I fear is never ending  
__Controlling. I can't seem..."_

Her movements still held the same grace and fluidity as before, but there seemed to be a new edge to them. Something primal. Animalistic. She thrashed about more, occasionally spinning on her toe in positions that I'm sure even the most heavily trained dancer were struggle with.

She danced with such ease that it scared me…

"_To find myself again  
__My walls are closing in  
__(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)  
__I've felt this way before."_

The singer held the mike out to the crowd, and everyone sang out, fists in the air, "So insecure…"

"_Crawling in my skin  
__These wounds they will not heal  
__Fear is how I fall  
__Confusing what is real._

"_Discomfort endlessly has pulled itself upon me  
__Distracting, reacting  
__Against my will I stand beside my own reflection  
__It's haunting how I can't seem..._

"_To find myself again  
__My walls are closing in  
__(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)  
__I've felt this way before  
__So insecure…_

"_Crawling in my skin  
__These wounds they will not heal  
__Fear is how I fall  
__Confusing what is real._

"_Crawling in my skin  
__These wounds they will not heal  
__Fear is how I fall  
__Confusing what is real."_

As she begins to spin again, I see what is different about her. Her eyes. They had a different depth to them, something I had seen at the race but had shrugged off till now.

"_There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface consuming,  
__Confusing what is real.  
__This lack of self-control I fear is never ending controlling,  
__Confusing what is real."_

As she took her final pose, signaling the songs end, the crowd went wild, but I found my gaze locked on her eyes. Her beautiful silver eyes locked onto mine. The normal black depths surrounded by the liquid silver seemed… mechanical. I could see the etchings of circuitry, almost invisible to the human eye.

And as she stood there, panting lightly, the feral nature of her stance melted, and her proud smirk melted into a kind smile. Before she turned to look shyly at the applauding crowd, I saw her eyes melt from the hard circuitry to their normal silver pools.

What is happening to my girl?

* * *

The night had been long, but I had finally coaxed Everon back to my car after saying goodbye to Little John while Jack dragged Raf and a protesting Miko to the car. She was complaining saying that she wanted to talk Bane into letting her play another set, but as soon the little Asian sat in the car, she practically passed out. Jack and Raf soon followed suit, and the three were leaning against each other, lightly breathing in deep sleep.

My gaze kept glancing at the girl in the passenger seat next to me, staring out the window with a soft smile on her face. She was exhausted, but obviously refusing to sleep. Eventually, she huffed. "I'm not ready to go back to base." Looking at me, she explained. "The moment I'm back, I'm gonna be smothered by them. I love them but… Could we pull over for a bit? Please?"

The pleading in her eyes made me smile to her and slowly pull off the road. As soon as we stop, she steps out and stretches before moving to lean against the front of the car hood, staring at the distant moon. I move out of the car to lean against the hood next to her.

She leans her head against my shoulder, and a sad, contemplative look crosses her face. "What is happening to me…"

I sigh. "I don't know. I'm guessing you could feel what was happening during the dance tonight." She nods her head against my shoulder before leaning back to lie down on the car hood and stare at stars. I lay down with her and wrap an arm around her. Changing the subject, I say, "Little John mentioned something about you singing?"

A pout crossed her face. "He's a traitor…"

I grin at her, and ask, "Please?"

She sighs, but after a moment, she begins to sing. It's low and quiet, but just as entrancing as her dancing.

"_Kiss me hard before you go  
__Summertime sadness  
__I just wanted you to know  
__That, baby, you're the best._

_"I got my red dress on tonight  
__Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight  
__Done my hair up real big beauty queen style  
__High heels off, I'm feeling alive._

_"Oh, my God, I feel it in the air  
__Telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare  
__Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere  
__Nothing scares me anymore.  
__2, 3, 4..._

_"Kiss me hard before you go  
__Summertime sadness  
__I just wanted you to know  
__That, baby, you're the best._

_"I've got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__S-s-summertime, summertime sadness  
__Got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__Oh, oh oh oh._

_"I'm feelin' electric tonight  
__Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99  
__Got my bad baby by my heavenly side  
__I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight_

_"Oh, my God, I feel it in the air  
__Telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare  
__Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere  
__Nothing scares me anymore.  
__2, 3, 4..._

_"Kiss me hard before you go  
__Summertime sadness  
__I just wanted you to know  
__That, baby, you're the best._

_"I've got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__S-s-summertime, summertime sadness  
__Got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__Oh, oh oh oh._

_"I think I'll miss you forever  
__Like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky  
__Later's better than never  
__Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive._

_"I've got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__S-s-summertime, summertime sadness  
__Got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__Oh, oh oh oh._

_"Kiss me hard before you go  
__Summertime sadness  
__I just wanted you to know  
__That, baby, you're the best._

_"I've got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__S-s-summertime, summertime sadness  
__Got that summertime, summertime sadness  
__Oh, oh oh oh…"_

God, how much I wanted to kiss her in that moment.

As she finished, her voice sleepily tapered off, and I just sat there, staring at the girl who sleepily smiled to me before loosing herself to sleep. I brush some her hair from her face, but then I became aware of my phone buzzing. I pull it out and look to see that it was base. They had called several times, and I realized how screwed I was.

Carefully, I scooped her up and sat her in the seat. Moving to lean against the driver door, I flip open the phone and dial. Before whoever answered could say anything, I interrupt by saying, "I guess the note wasn't satisfactory?"

"_Are you fragged in the head?! How could you possibly think it was okay to take her out at a time like this!? She could go critical at any minute…"_

"Look Ratchet, that girl was going whether I let her or not. You know how stubborn she can get. At least this way I could watch her."

Another voice, one I didn't recognize came over the line. _"She nearly died! Stubborn or not, what gives you the right to take her without telling _anyone_! And don't give some slagged excuse that you 'left a note' because that is _not _going to cut it!"_

"Who in the hell are you?" I ask viciously.

"_Someone who thinks that you being Ev's guardian is a load of scrap."_ My jaw clenches, but before I can retort, I clank of metal could be heard followed by Ratchet mumbling obscenities over the line.

"_Damien,"_ Optimus proclaimed over the line, _"We are opening a ground bridge. Bring back Everon and the children immediately."_

"We were on our way back when I saw the missed calls." The line cuts and then the bridge opened about hundred feet in front of my car. As I drive my car into the portal, I reach over to my glove compartment and carefully pull out my handgun and slip it into the back of my jeans. Whoever that was, I didn't like him, nor trust him around Ev.

As soon as I pull through the portal and step from the car I see the Bots all clustered around, including a new one. His helmet was shaped differently then the others, and his paint job was a pure white sans a green and red racing stripe down the center of his torso.

He looked pissed.

I carefully closed the car door and strode forward. The new Bot spoke first. "Where is she?" he snapped. "You had no right to take her!"

"Asleep in the car. I suggest you be quiet or else you'll wake her up." The Bot glares at me before turning his gaze to Everon's prone form in the car. "And as for my 'right' to take her..." His attention snaps back to me. "Aside from my sanctioning from my government _and_ Optimus, I have a hell of a bigger right to take her then you have to judge me about it. Who in the hell are you anyway?"

That's when I heard a gasp behind me. I turn to see Everon with a shocked face standing up in the passenger door. Tears began to stream from her eyes as a look of pure joy passed over her face. That look combined with her next exclamation nearly broke my heart. "Wheeljack!"

I watched, my heart slowly breaking as she rushed forward past me to Wheeljack who kneeled and immediately scooped her up in his hand and cradled her to his chassis. She cried and did her best to hug him, and he stroked her hair gently, a look of relief on his face as he stared at her. I just stood there, masking my pain as best I could while I tortured myself by watching their reunion.

My next move was stupid and pointless. It helped nothing and only made me look crazy. At the moment though, I guess I was a bit crazy.

I pulled my gun out of where I had hid it in the back of my jeans and shot Wheeljack in the foot.

* * *

** Oh, when reading this chapter, I suggest listening to the music. I'm trying to explain the feel of the songs, but there is no real replacement for the actual songs. The first is "In My Remains" and the second is "Crawling," both by Linkin Park (they are AMAZING) but the second is from their [Live at Milton Key] album. The third is "Summertime Sadness" by Lana Del Ray. At least look up the second one. I love that version of the song.**

** Anyway, please review! I love feedback on how the story is going. And I'm gonna try to keep up with the postings, but I'm currently tweaking my original story ideas, so bare with me!**


	19. Wheeljack part 2

**As a quick note for everyone before the story continues: I just recently got a Vans Warped Tour cd, and let me say this:**

**IT IS AWESOME!**

**It's like fifty songs from random artists, and it's cheap, so please listen to it, any of the year versions! They put out one each year for the their summer band performances. The cd has a bunch of different artists on it, each performing one song. It's given me a bunch inspiration for my writing.**

**If you like Pop music, though, I would avoid it…**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

When I gave Everon my Airrant, I had never expected it to feel like this. Her sparkbeat became the white noise in the back of my head, a sound that I was always conscious of as well as her emotions.

When I left, I knew it would be painful, but I had never expected the ache that plagued me. All I wanted was her by my side, to see her face and her brilliant, silver eyes as she smiled at me.

When I began to feel the unnatural spikes in Everon's emotional stability, I knew I had made a mistake by leaving her. At first, I tried telling myself that I was just overanalyzing the emotions, clinging to my attachment to her while I traveled alone in this ship.

When her energy unnaturally spiked again, showing anger that I had never felt before, I decided to go back. The anger also made way for an emotion that she had been hiding. Depression. My girl was becoming increasingly depressed, feeling lost and slowly more hopeless.

Then I couldn't feel her at all.

My spark near stopped, all the worst scenarios flying through my head. Primus forbid that she had thrown away her Airrant, or worse, have joined the Allspark…

After an agonizing wait, I felt her sparkbeat return, her worry and love for me suddenly washing over me as I listened to her panicked spark flutter in the back of my head. I took this as my cue to kick the Jackhammer into overdrive and get home. I was a ways away, so I had a long flight back.

Then she was hurt. I could sense that she was in pain, that she was _dying__**. **_I felt so helpless. I knew I was at least a few Earth days flight away. Eventually, after about an hour of her overexerting herself, she blacked out. Not dead, but unconscious just the same.

My girl remained that way for days. Each day I agonized over her weakened condition, wishing I could be with her, berating myself for leaving her. Then she woke up, and the rage I had felt before flared before being replaced by agonizing pain.

Though I could not actually _feel_ the pain, I knew her pain was excruciating, and I couldn't do a thing about it.

Then, the pain ebbed away before being replaced with exhaustion. My poor girl. She blacked out once again, but I knew I was close to Earth. Hopefully, I would be there when she woke up.

* * *

Five minutes. She woke up five minutes ago. In those five minutes, she and the other children managed to disappear from the fragging base!

I landed the Jackhammer on the roof, and when I entered the base, I'm greeted by the other Autobots who were just returning from training, sans Ratchet who was passed out asleep at his station mumbling something about fluzzars. Anyway, before I let them get over the shock of seeing, I demand to see Everon.

"She should be in her room…" Bulkhead explained. I'm walking to her room with him and the others tailing behind me. "Jackie… there was an accident and…"

"She was hurt, I know." I freeze and look but to them, but they don't look as shocked as I expected.

"We found out about the Airrant," Arcee explained.

With a sigh, I turn back in the direction of Ev's room and say, "Well, I guess I'm not that shocked since she's been wearing the shard almost continuously… What happened to her?"

**She and Jack were being hunted by an ex-Con, **Bumblebee bleeped in response. **Ev got hurt, well poisoned too, and then she thought it would be a good idea to lure the Con onto her own ship then rig it to blow. She was in critical till earlier today…**

I then mutter, "This girl is gonna be the death of me…" As I say that, I open the door to her room. It looked the same as I left, albeit the clutter seemed to rotate and various paint supplies were strewn everywhere, but there was one noticeable thing missing from the room.

"Where's Everon?"

After we determined that she was in fact missing, Arcee suddenly exclaimed, "Where are the kids?!" We all exchanged a look, and then we rushed back into the main room, each of the Bots calling to their respective charge while Optimus and I yelled for Everon.

Ratchet jumped up, startled. "What in the Allspark… Wheeljack?! When did you—"

"Where's Everon?" I ask the startled medic.

"In her room… resting, why—"

"She's gone Ratchet!" Bulkhead announces as he still nervously scans the room. "Her and the others are gone!"

Ratchet suddenly looks alarmed, and as he looks around the room, he exclaims, "Primus! Damien must have taken his car!"

"Who in the frag is Damien?" Everyone suddenly jolts, even Ratchet and Prime, and they all exchange nervous glances. "Well?"

Optimus clears his throat, and then he cautiously explains, "He is… Everon's human guardian, assigned to watch her by the government. He acts as a liaison to them about her well-being with the team…"

Everyone still looks nervous, so I ask, "What aren't you telling me?"

They all take one more glance at each other, trying to decide if they want to tell me or not obviously, and then they all look to Bulkhead who sighs in defeat. "That's what we told Ev. What we left out was that he is actually evaluating how safe she actually is living with us… Between her capture with the Cons and, well, running into Silas… that's a story for another time… they think that this is not a safe place for a child to live. They might try and take her from us."

I freeze, stunned. "You actually let that slagger in here when his goal is to take her away from us? Are you out of your minds!"

"We aren't letting them take her anywhere," Arcee firmly declares.

Optimus continues by saying, "Should the human government decide that they wish to take her, we have already discussed with Fowler the idea of moving our base and dropping off the radar. We developed evacuation plans years back, ones that have safe houses unknown to even Fowler where we can move ourselves and our equipment."

I stare at the seriousness of the Bots around me, which allows me to relax a bit. With a sigh, I say, "Alright. But why do I have a feeling that there's something else you might not be telling me?"

"Uh…" Bulk began. "Damien may or may not have a thing for Ev…"

"What?!"

* * *

Three hours. It's been three hours since Everon had left with the other humans. And Damien. I could sense her emotions, and the slowly been flaring up into that wild and primal state that was becoming a recurring thing with her. It scared the Pit out of me, but I didn't want to tell the other Bots, not until I talked to Ev.

Eventually, the emotions faded away, and she was claimed by exhaustion. Some time after that, she fell asleep. I focused on her simple content with sleep, feeling my spark tighten at the thought of the innocent look she gets on her face when she sleeps.

That's when the base got a call. It was that Damien. I wanted nothing more then to squash that pathetic human, but before I could properly tell him what I thought of him, Ratchet hit me upside the head and pulled me away from the comm station, mumbling a slew of obscenities about Damien and I. Prime then ordered Damien back, who in return said they had been heading back when he called.

After a short little heated debate between Damien and I, I heard a familiar sounding gasp, and I look away from the human to see her standing in the passenger door of the Ferrari. Tears began to stream down her face as she yelled, "Wheeljack!" before running straight to me.

I forgot everything around me except her. At the moment, she was all that mattered. I kneel down and scoop her up as soon as she is near me, cradling her to my chassis, which then attempts to hug. My spark felt whole again, and all I could think about was her.

That is, until that little fragger Damien shot me in the foot.

Everything seemed instantaneous after that. My first motion was to open my chassis and drop Everon inside while I drew my blaster on the unflinching human. The other Bots jumped into action, with Bulkhead grabbing my arms and pinning them behind me while Bumblebee grabbed Damien, obviously confused over what to do with the young man.

Jack, Miko, and Raf had woken up during the confusion and had rushed forward. Everyone, Bot and human, seemed to be speaking at once.

"You little fragger!"

"C'mon Jackie, easy now…"

**What do I do with him?**

"Whoa, whoa, everyone just calm down!"

"What on Earth is going on? When did Wheeljack get here!"

"Was that a gunshot we heard from the car?!"

"Wheeljack is totally going to squash Damien!"

"Everyone, SILENCE!" The booming voice of Prime seemed to settle everyone, and I stopped struggling to free myself from Bulkhead's grasp, though I did growl a bit towards the human who was currently looking at me with a blank look except for the intense hatred in his eyes. "Bulkhead, release Wheeljack. Bumblebee, hand me Damien."

Bulkhead began to loosen his grip, and I jerked from his grasp, my eyes never moving from Damien as he was handed to the Prime. Optimus then moved to set Damien on one of the platforms. As I head over to where the Prime stood, I heard a knocking from my chassis. "Oh, scrap."

I open my chassis and Everon immediately began to climb out. "Was that really necessary?"

"I heard a gunshot, I moved you to a safe place: it's sort of a reflex." She climbed up onto my shoulder and lightly kicked me in the side of the head before plopping down.

Turning back to the Prime and Damien, I narrow my eyes at the young man. "Did someone drop you on your head as a kid?"

Damien snorted. "It didn't do squat to you. Drawing the blaster was overkill."

Arcee stopped me from moving forward before turning to Damien. "Okay, lesson number one: you two are teammates, which means even if the weapon won't cause much damage, you don't _shoot_ at each other. Lesson number two: firing a gun near someone's Airrant stone holder will likely get you _killed_. Wheeljack was protective of Ev before the stone, and taking her out while injured isn't gaining you any points. We might not be able to stop him from shooting you next time."

Damien just rolled his eyes. Prime then stepped in. "Damien, I allowed you to be my daughter's guardian because I felt you would put her best interests first. Your actions tonight have been making me feel otherwise."

With a sigh, Damien says, "Look, I caught her trying to steal my car. I tried to talk her out of it, but she looked ready to fight me if she didn't go to this party. We all tagged along so we could keep a better eye on her."

"Psh," Ratchet interjected. "You're human party's are known for being dangerous and wild, and from the amount of alcohol I smell coming off of all of you, I seriously doubt the environment was very safe for her."

"Well, these people knew her, and Everon wasn't allowed to touch any alcohol or drugs—"

**There was drugs? As in, medicine?**

Raf translated to a confused looking Damien who continued. "Different type of drugs, Bee, but she didn't use any of them. It was extremely safe, and everyone was equally protective of her."

"That party was rad!" Miko exclaimed excitedly as she pumped her fist in the air.

Optimus ran a hand over his face as he tried to find the right words. I spoke first. "Look, as important as all this is, I need to talk to Ev. Alone. So we are just—"

"Yeah, no," Damien says. "We have a serious issue to discuss first, and she and you both should probably be here for it."

"Damien…" Ev begins to say.

"They need to know, Ev. And I'm not gonna hide something this important." Looking at everyone, Damien explains. "I think Everon developing a split personality."

"What?" Ratchet asks.

"Tonight, at the party, I noticed something. I've seen it before, it just didn't really process in my head. Her mood swings and odd behavior lately, whenever it flares up, her eyes change. They look more… mechanical. I sort of noticed it at the race, but I saw it clear as day while she was dancing. She had been acting weird at the party, but she seemed to melt back to her normal self after her eyes went back to normal."

"I've noticed it too." All eyes turn to me. "Through our connection, I can feel her emotions, and as of late, she has been having flares of wild, almost primal emotions." I look at her where she sits on my shoulder, but she won't make eye contact with me. She just stares off at a wall. "Ev, I know you know something is wrong."

She sighs, and then turns her gaze upwards to me before looking back down to her hands in her lap. Her nerves were shot. "It… it started out as headaches, bad moods, things like that. The headaches came when I tried to not be angry…

"Now… sometimes I feel like a completely different person. I feel powerful, as if I could walk on water, crush the world in my hand… like this isn't where I belong. Then, the personality will fade away. But when I woke up today, screaming at Damien, I tried to stop it, stop the new personality, but instead all I felt was that agonizing pain. I thought that I was going to die…"

We were all silent, unsure of what to say. She began to shake a little, so I scooped her into my hand and cradled her to my chassis. "Hey, easy. Everything's gonna be okay. We'll fix this."

She didn't respond.

* * *

"I feel so useless."

"C'mon, Jackie," Bulkhead tells me. "There's not much we can do. Ratchet's finishing his scans and making her sleep in the med bay. All we can do is wait for the results and be as supportive of her possible."

With a sigh, I say, "I know, I just…"

He places a hand on my shoulder and responds, "She's your girl. With everything that's going on, you have every right to be worried." I just sigh again. "How is she feeling now?"

"Frustrated. She is getting twitchy and upset. Not bad upset, just Ev's level of annoyance. She doesn't like being confined…" I taper off when I see one of the last people I wanted to see approach us. "How strict is Optimus' rule about hurting humans?"

"Still as strict as ever, Jackie. Plus, even though you don't like him, Ev still considers him a friend and would be rather pissed if you hurt him."

"Me?" I say with fake shock. "Never. Though, it wouldn't exactly be my fault if he were crushed by a stack of crates… or transported to the middle of an ocean."

"Ha, ha." Damien had gotten close enough to hear my last comments. "I'm not entirely fond of you either."

"Says the guy who took her out a party a few hours after she had been in critical condition."

He scowled at me. "At least I haven't made her feel like she's obligated to love me."

I freeze, suddenly extremely angry. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That Airrant. It was a cruel thing to do to her. You made her not only feel like she needed to love you because you can't love someone else, but she is never going to feel good enough for you. I can see it in her eyes whenever she talks about you. You're not the same species: you will never be able to have a real relationship with her."

I'm shocked into silence. I had never thought of it that way, never thought of harm it might mentally cause Ev. I couldn't argue with him, because part of me agreed with him.

That's when I felt a growing sense of anger in the back of my head. Anger that wasn't mine.

"Back off, Damien," Ev says as she approaches us. Jabbing a finger to his chest, she continues. "That is uncalled for. What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I told you Ev, I intend to do everything in my power to win you over. Even if it means scaring off the competition." She looks like she is about protest, but he merely grins and says, "See you later, sweetheart."

As he walks away, she manages to find her voice. "I told you, I don't have a heart!"

He turns, the same grin plastered on his face, and as he continues to move backwards, he says, "And I told you that you do: you just can't see it." With that, he left us.

Ev growled but her face softened when she turned back to me. With a small smile, she says, "I've been confined to my room for the next day or two with no interaction tonight. But, I got permission to show you something before I go to sleep."

I manage to smile, though my spark still hurt at the idea of my actions causing her pain. "Sure thing, Ev." I look to Bulkhead and say, "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

He smiles to me and then places a hand on my shoulder. "That sounds good. Get some rest, Ev." She smiles to Bulk, and as he walks away, I scoop her up and head towards her room.

We were both silent, unsure of what to say. When we reach her room, she motions for me to sit her down, which I do so carefully, and she proceeds to run to the part of her room which she used for her artwork. The area was covered with paint, various splatters and spills decorating the tables, floors, and walls. I look up momentarily and see that even the ceiling had some paint on it.

She follows my gaze and responds, "Don't ask." Moving to an oversized easel, I see her grasp the sheet that covered what I assumed was a canvas. Suddenly, she became extremely nervous. I could feel it over our bond.

"Have you ever heard the song _Monster_?" I give her a confused shake of my head, telling her no. With a light chuckle, she says, "It's a Skillet song. It kind of fits me…" Looking at me nervously, she says before I could ask about her last comment, "I did my best… I hope you like it."

Then, with a sweeping arc motion her arms, she pulls the sheet from the canvas.

"Everon… this is amazing." The picture was better then I could ever imagine. She made the picture both realistic and lifelike, but it had qualities of abstract in the way she laid the paints. I couldn't have imagined anything better.

Everon, though, seemed quiet. Before I could say anything, I could sense her change in mood. Her emotions flared, and she snapped, "The picture's crap. Don't know why I wasted so much time on it. It was a failure from the beginning."

"Ev… you're emotions are shifting again. Just focus on you. _This_ isn't you—"

"Maybe this is me!" she yelled back. "Maybe all you Autobots have seen is what I wanted you to see! Maybe I'm not the Autobot you think I am!"

"Everon, calm—"

As I reach for her she yells, "Get out! Get out, now!"

My spark ached. I knew she was confused and hurting. Something was messing with her head, and I wanted to help. "C'mon Ev—"

"You left me!" she screamed, and I froze. "You left me, but not before making that stupid Airrant bond! You claimed me, and I have no options! No matter what I choose, I'm going to hurt someone, and I'm going to have to carry that guilt! To carry the guilt of what happened to Cliff, to Megatron, to Skyquake…

"Even if I choose you, I'm going to end up hurting him _and _you. I'll die someday soon, and you won't be able to do anything about it! You'll be in pain, and it will be my fault. But if I choose Damien..."

Her next words made my spark feel like it was shattering. "At least I could spare someone's heart…"

I shouldn't have taken this. I should have known that she couldn't control herself, that her mind was confused… but I felt like I was breaking. With no emotion in my voice, I tell the angry and confused girl, "I don't have a heart."

I then get up and stride from the room, burying my emotions deep within me. As the door shuts behind me, I feel the bond between us suddenly be cut off. She had taken off her necklace, her shard. Her emotions, her sparkbeat, it was gone from my mind.

I felt as if I was gone.

* * *

"Jackie?" I ignored the voice. I was too busy brooding to acknowledge him. "What are you out here? I thought we were going to talk."

I still didn't respond. I just sat in the pilot seat of the Jackhammer, staring out the window at Nevada sunset. It reminded me of when I first gave her that blasted Airrant. The memory hurt like hell to think about right now, but I felt like torturing myself a bit.

"C'mon, Jackie, what hap—"

"I'm leaving, Bulk."

The crash of his hand punching the wall scared the Pit out of me. "What is wrong with you?! You just got back, you can't leave her again! Primus, _you_ were the one who gave her the stone!"

With a sad and quiet voice, I say, "It's over, Bulkhead. Ev and I… well I guess it never really started, did it?"

"Why? Is this because of what Damien said?"

"I didn't end it." Silence reigned in the ship for a while as Bulk processed what I said.

With a weary sigh, he says, "You can't take her word right now, Wheeljack. She not feeling right: her mind's confused, stressed…"

"And she needs something more stable, something that causes her less stress."

"So you're not even going to fight for her!"

"She may have said this while she was in one of her mood swings, but she made a hell of a lot of sense. She said that if she choses me, both Damien and I will have our hearts broken, his now, mine when she passes away… at least this way, Damien makes it out of this with his heart in tack."

"That excuse is scrap and you know it."

I sigh. "I'll stay on planet, but I can't stay here. I'm sorry, Bulk. My mind's made up. She needs a normal life, a normal relationship." I stand and look Bulk in the eyes and say, "She doesn't need me."

I left a few minutes after Bulkhead left, with no intentions on ever looking back.

* * *

**Sorry for such a sad chapter! It was a last minute idea. I intend to work a few different ideas off of this.**

**Anyway, please review and tell me what you think of this twist!**


	20. Important Notice!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Okay, I have some important announcements. Please read even if you are only loosely reading my story!**

**1. I haven't wrote a chapter this week. I normally post every Friday and Saturday, but this is the week from hell as far as schoolwork plus working and preparing for a blood drive. I feel dead. ** ** I might post next week, but it might only be a chapter. I am spending these two weeks planning my plot, though, and working out any kinks.**

**2. I am writing about three or four more chapters, then I am ending this story. Don't freak! I'm planning on starting a sequel to this story titled **_**Chasing Shadows of Angels**_**. When I start the story, you will understand why I separated them.**

**3. Also, I am planning on writing one of my upcoming chapters (not the next chapter) as sort of a fluff piece to break the tension in the story, and I intend to use a Truth or Dare section! I love those, and I have always wanted to write one. Any suggestions or requests, merely post them in the reviews.**

**Anyway, I think that's about it. Any questions, comments, or ideas/requests for the upcoming story, just write in the reviews. I will hopefully post soon!**

_**Everon Prime**_


	21. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long! Tests suck. Anyway, this chapter is finally ready to be posted, and hopefully I won't have these long intervals anymore. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime or the song **_**Monster**_** by Skillet. I do, however, own Everon Prime and Damien Blackwater.**

* * *

As I slowly woke up, I couldn't help but think that I hadn't had this peaceful of sleep in a while.

My second thought made my spark skip a pulse.

I remembered the other night. I remembered every hurtful word I had thrown at Wheeljack. I remembered how I had basically told him that we were over. And I saw my shard hanging from his picture to prove it.

Running from the room, I didn't care that I was still supposed to be sentenced to bed rest. I didn't care that I looked like a scrap pile. All I could think about was finding him and apologizing over and over again and begging for his forgiveness.

Rushing into the main room, I yell, "Where's Wheeljack?"

Arcee and Ratchet, who were the only Bots in the room at the moment, jumped at my sudden entrance. "Everon Prime!" Ratchet barks. "You nearly gave me a spark attack! You are supposed to be confined to bed rest."

"I don't give a slag about fragging bed rest right now!" I snap at my mentor. "Where is Wheeljack? I need to see Wheeljack!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy, Ev," Jack says as he and the others rush from the couch platform to me. He approaches with Miko, Raf, and Damien trotting after him. "Okay, deep breaths: just tell us what's wrong."

"I need to see him! I need to apologize! I _need_ him! Where is he?!" I knew I was hysterical at this point, shifting around in circles while throwing my arms around in wild motions.

"You had a flare up last night, didn't you?" Damien asked calmly as he slowly approached me, hands up in a 'I mean no harm' gesture as if I were some cornered animal. In a way, I was. Especially since I could feel a fresh and oh-so familiar headache building up in the back of my head.

"Yes! I had a fragging meltdown last night, and I took it out on him! Now, where. Is. He?!"

"He's gone." I whip around to stare with a stunned face at Bulkhead as he slowly enters the room, Bumblebee and my father in tow. I look at his saddened face that wouldn't meet my eyes. I could feel the headache seem to pulse in my mind, growing worse by the second. "I tried to talk him down, but—"

"No!" I shriek, causing everyone to look at me with panicked expressions. "No, no, NO!" The pain had become unbearable, worse then it has ever been. As I heard exclamations of worry from everyone, the world around me fades to black.

* * *

I felt like I was floating, floating in an empty expanse of nothingness.

I couldn't tell what was left, what was right. My mind was lost, and for some reason, I didn't mind. I felt at peace, as if I was meant to be here. As if this nothingness would keep me swallowed up so that I could leave myself to my self-loathing.

As I floated in this vast expanse, I pulled my legs to my chest and began to cry. The sound cut through the deafening silence, and the surroundings seemed to darken in response to my sadness. I couldn't seem to care. All I could think of was how I had ruined my relationship with Wheeljack and drove him away by breaking his spark.

"What's wrong with me…" I murmur through the tears as I feel what I think is solid ground form beneath my feet. That's when I hear a sound. It's faint, near impossible to hear, but it's enough to make me to quiet my sobs and listen. I hear it again, and I recognize the unmistakable sound of wings fluttering.

Standing, I turn to see nothing around me. Nothing but the empty space I was trapped in anyways. I decide to ignore the sound, and I return to my curled up ball. With my cheek pressed against my knees, I lowly begin to sing, slowly letting my inner bitterness seep into my words.

"_The secret side of me, I never let you see,  
__I keep it caged, but I can't control it.  
__So stay away from me, the beast is ugly,  
__I feel the rage, and I just can't hold it."_

I clenched my fists at my sides, angry at myself for letting this happen, for letting whatever is wrong with me to control me.

"_It's scratching on the walls, in the closet in the halls,  
__It comes awake and I can't control it.  
__Hiding under my bed, in my body, in my head,  
__Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end!"_

I jump up, throwing my hands to the side as my singing warps into a mixture of my voice and hateful yelling. I don't know why I'm singing, but I can't seem to express myself any other way.

"_I feel it deep within! It's just beneath the skin!  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster!  
__I hate what I've become! The nightmare's just begun!  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster!"_

I hear the flutter of wings again. I ignore it. Squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my hands over my ears, I sink back to the ground in a kneeling position and hunch over as I continue to let the words flow out.

"_My secret side I keep hid under lock and key,  
__I keep it caged, but I can't control it,  
__Cause if I let him out, he'll tear me up, break me down.  
__Why won't somebody come and save me from this make it end!_

"_I feel it deep within! It's just beneath the skin  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster!  
__I hate what I've become! The nightmare's just begun!  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster!"_

Words are hazy, unbalanced and off pace. I feel like I'm going crazy: my words just bounce off the walls and echo back to me in this soundless nothingness.

"_I feel it deep within! It's just beneath the skin!  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster."_

Then I scream, "I feel like a monster!" as tears begin to fall down my face.

"_It's hiding in the dark  
__It's teeth are razor sharp  
__There's no escape for me  
__It wants my soul,  
__It wants my heart._

"_No one can hear me scream  
__Maybe it's just a dream  
__Or maybe it's inside of me  
__Stop this monster!"_

"Is that truly what you think of yourself?" Jumping up, I spin around to see someone approaching me from behind. Despite her being only about ten feet away, I couldn't make out any of her features. Between the voice and shape of the figure, I could tell that it was a female, though. That combined with her size and the basic outlining of armor, I assumed her to be a Cybertronian femme, one about the same size as Arcee.

One with a pair of long, messily feathered wings.

She walked slowly closer to me, and as she kneeled in front of me, I tell her with a sad and hoarse voice, "Well, it fits…" The one discernable feature of hers was her eyes. They were a brilliant silver, like mine. They seemed sad, for me I assume, given my current depressed state. "You're Cybertronian." She nods. "Are you here to make me one with the Allspark? I'll go willingly: I've heard stories of the souls who resisted. I don't need a guide. Honestly, I was expecting Cliffjumper."

Her eyes look sadder. "Dear Everon, it's not your time. He is not needed yet to guide you, and you are still needed in your realm." I felt angry, and I bite down hard on my lip before I could snap at the kind femme. "You are so confused, and I'm sorry for any pain you've gone through… I wish I could say that you were not meant to face anymore, but I'm afraid you have a long road ahead of you before this war's end."

"What are you?"

I could almost see the smile in her eyes. "Someone who remains between your realm and the Allspark to guide the lost of my kind in both realms."

"Your kind?" I ask. "You mean Cybertronians?"

"In a way… Come, Everon. You must be strong. If this war is to end, you are needed. You are the only one who can unite the sides once the war ends." Before I can respond, she says, "It's time for you to wake up. You have people waiting for you."

There was no transition between the world of nothingness and mine. One minute I was sitting with the angel, the next I was awake.

* * *

I was laying on a medical gurney. I might as well live in this bed the way things have been going recently. Hearing voices, I decide to pretend to sleep and listen in. The voices were certainly strained.

"Bulkhead, have you heard _anything_ from him?" Arcee sounded stressed, agitated, not that I could blame her.

Hearing Bulk's sigh, he responded by saying, "Nothing. He turned off his comm link. I sent him messages over the comm, but it's probably gonna be a while before he checks them."

Arcee growls in frustration. "That fragger needs to get back here, now! Ratchet won't explain what's wrong with her unless he's here."

**What if he doesn't come back?**

Everyone was quiet after Bumblebee's comment. Eventually, Arcee sighs and says, "He cares for Ev too much to not come back, even if we didn't contact him. His head's just screwed up. Does anyone even know why he left?" A pause. "Bulkhead, what happened? What did Ev say?"

For a moment, Bulkhead didn't respond. Then, in a cautious voice, He explained. "Ev… Ev ended things with Jackie. She told him that it was over. And… and that since she would eventually break his heart when she died, she might as well get it over with so he could heal, and she could spare someone else's heart…"

"What?" Damien asked. He had been quiet for this entire conversation, so I hadn't even realized he was in the room. "What do you mean?"

Bulkhead's voice had a bit of a growl in it. "She wasn't right in the head. We don't know if she meant anything she said."

Damien's voice then matched Bulk's tone. "What. Do. You. Mean."

"She said she was choosing you over Wheeljack!" Bulkhead shouted, anger clearly evident in voice. "She's choosing you, the fragger in charge of deciding whether or not we are allowed to keep her!"

"What?" Everything was silent after that. No one said a word as they all stared at me slack jawed from where I sat up on the gurney. I felt numb. "What do you mean?" My voice is small, and I felt so confused.

"Ev…" Damien began.

"This whole time, you weren't assigned to be my guardian, were you? You were to judge whether or not I could stay with the team…"

He sighed, his eyes pleading for understanding from me. "My superiors wanted to see your normal actions with the team without your knowledge… I was just doing my job, I didn't expect…"

"Get. Out," I growl. He looks shocked, but I don't care. My headache was returning, and I quite honestly didn't want to contain my anger. "Get out!" When he didn't move, I got up from the gurney and strode over to the platform he was standing on.

"Ev, I'm so—" He couldn't finish his excuse because my fist had connected to his jaw, knocking him to the ground.

**Well, that's gonna leave a mark…** Bee seemed a little stunned at the moment, but he made no move to stop me. Bulkhead just crossed his arms with a satisfied look on his face, and Arcee just face-palmed with an exasperated sigh.

"Get out!" As he stood up slowly, I swung with the intention of punching him again, but he dodged this time under my arm. His effectively executed evasion was short lived, and the heel of my foot connected with the small his back. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing my normal, heeled boots, but my bare foot still managed to knock him to the ground.

Before I could move again, I noticed the familiar sound of approaching footsteps, followed by someone scooping me up in their hand. "Easy, my daughter," my daddy tells me. I merely growl as he sits me on his shoulder. Looking back to the shocked Damien, my father says, "It might be most prudent at this time if you leave…"

With one last saddened look to me, Damien stood and walked to his car. Without looking back, he says, "For what it's worth, I wasn't going to take you away from them." Then he drove from the base.

I had lost someone else.

I felt like my heart was crumbling. Between driving away Wheeljack, the one that I loved, and hurting Damien, who was beginning to grow on me, I felt a deep self-loathing growing in my chest.

My father inclined his head to me. "Are you alright?"

I curled my knees up to my chest. Normally, I would merely shrug off these questions, but I was beyond any way of denying things any more. So, with a sad and broken voice, I tell him, "No. No, I'm not alright. And I'm starting to wonder if I ever will be…"

* * *

I spent most of that night in my room, staring at the painting I had made for Wheeljack. Honestly, it was one of my best works. I had poured my heart and soul into it and had lovingly applied each stroke. But, besides my painting, my attention was stuck to the singular shard hanging from the corner of the canvas.

I hadn't touched it since I had hung it there the other night. I couldn't bring myself to. I never deserved it. I never deserved him… I broke him, and I could never forgive myself for that.

Bulkhead had suggested that I put the necklace back on, that Wheeljack would sense my pain and come back. That Wheeljack would eagerly forgive me. But, what would stop me from hurting him again? What would stop me from hurting all of them? I found myself questioning my sanity as of late: between my bouts of aggression and mood swings, I felt unstable.

Then there was the femme from my dream, the one who wandered the nothingness. She said that she helped her kind… but somehow, I didn't think she meant Cybertronians in general. But if she didn't mean Cybertronians, then what was she talking about? Half-breeds? Why was I even analyzing this anyway? It was just an exhaustion-produced hallucination, a dream, but it also seemed like so much more…

I can't do anything but sigh. That's when I hear the commotion coming from down the hallway. I decide to go and check, seeing as how I was getting antsy from sitting still.

As I walk into the room, I hear Arcee ask, "Should we go get Ev?"

"Get me for what?" Everyone spun around, suddenly looking both shocked and nervous. I can see Jack, Miko, and Raf on the platform, obviously just arriving from school, and even they looked a bit nervous. Ratchet suddenly said, "You should be resting!" while the others yelled "Nothing!"

My dad decided to speak after clearing his throat. "We have someone entering the base…"

I quirk an eyebrow before crossing my arms over my chest and jutting out a hip to the side. "If it's Damien, I swear I will throw him right back out of the base, military rules be damned."

Bulk looked puzzled for a second. "Wow, I don't think I've ever heard you use a human curse word before…"

Cutting Bulkhead a look that said 'seriously?,' Arcee said, "No it's not Damien…"

That's when the Bot sized lift to the roof began to lower, and a voice that made my heart stop began to speak before it was even fully lowered. "Where is she? Is Ev okay?"

Just before the lift fully stopped lowering, he stepped off and rushed forward to the other Bots, not noticing me standing off to the side. "Wheeljack…" I choke out. He spins around, a look of relief passing over his face. I felt tears stream as I began to speak again. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean… I, I'm so sorry." Before he could move forward to me, I turn and run straight from the room and didn't stop until I had shut the door behind me to my room. Sliding down the wall, I sit with my knees drawn to my chest, and just continue to cry.

Why was this so hard? I should have just went over to him, kept apologizing till I was blue in the face, but I felt so… scared. It was stupid, but I was scared to talk this out with him.

Soon, I hear an expected knock at my door, "Ev, babe, can I come in?" Wheeljack. I can't find the words, so I say nothing. "Okay, we need to talk, so fair warning, I'm coming whether you want me to or not. Don't throw a shoe at me or anything." I snort, remembering back to the time when he had not so politely walked in on me changing.

As he had warned, he entered my room without my permission. After quickly scanning the room, he sees me next to the doorframe, curled in a ball against the wall. Before he can say anything, I rush forward, and he wordlessly scoops me up and cradles me to his chassis. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I murmur as I do my best to hug his chassis.

"Primus, I'm sorry: I shouldn't have just left. I just… Slag it to the Pit, Ev, I love you, I just love you so much…"

"I love you, too…"

Our moment is interrupted when I hear the sound of someone clearing his throat from the doorway. Wheeljack jerks his head to glare at the intruder, but Ratchet merely harrumphs in response to the glare. "I hate to interrupt, but we need to talk, now. I think I know what's wrong with Everon, and you both need to be here for this."

I look up to Wheeljack as he glances down to me, and I offer him a small smile. He sighs then says, "Fine, but I get a drive with her tonight."

Ratchet nods, and Wheeljack moves to follow him, but I suddenly say, "Wait! Can you sit me down for a second?" Wheeljack looks confused but complies, and I rush away towards my painting. Carefully, I pick up my shard from where it hangs, and I feel the familiar sense of warmth flood over me as it glows. Slipping it around my neck, I stride back to the much happier looking Wheeljack. "Now I'm ready."

After placing me on his shoulder, Wheeljack follows an aggravated Ratchet out towards the main area. All the Bots and humans look suddenly towards us, but they all visibly relax when they see me curled into the crook of Wheeljack's neck. After sending me a soft smile, my daddy turns to Ratchet with a more serious look. "What exactly have you discovered my old friend?"

Ratchet's response is clinical as he tries his best to slip into the role of medic instead of concerned mentor. "In layman's terms, Everon is going through a spark break."

The room goes silent, and I can feel Wheeljack tense from where I sit on his shoulder. I, on the other hand, was merely confused, but Raf spoke before I could. "Uh, what's a spark break?"

"Did she crack her spark or something when she was hurt?" Jack continued.

"Like when Bulkhead dropped her on the Con's ship?" Miko added, earning an indignant, "Hey!" from Bulkhead.

I cocked my head to the side in a confused gesture to my mentor, who decided to elaborate. "A spark is different then a human heart. Where a spark does pump energon through our veins, it is the Cybertronian center for emotions, like the human mind. "

"We feel with our heart, not our heads. I get that," I tell Ratchet. "And the spark break is…?"

Now Ratchet seems a bit unsure of himself. His words are measured and careful. "Everon… I think that your spark developed a fracture when Cliffjumper passed away." His words made me flinch. "Then, piling on the recent stress, such as Megatron's death and the way you have been carrying blame for Skyquake's death, which we_ have_ noticed, the fracture has slowly been getting worse."

"How could we not have noticed?" Arcee asked suddenly. "A spark fracture is extremely painful for a Cybertronian, and you just described a compound spark fracture. We should have seen more signs—"

"And you're forgetting an important variable," Ratchet added. "This is Everon we're talking about. She isn't one to share her burdens with others. That mixed with the silver-tongue and sense of independence she gained during her time with the Decepticons, it's no wonder we never noticed."

During his speech, Wheeljack had subconsciously began fussing over me: he kept either lightly touching me as if checking to see if I'm there or stroking the top of my head lightly. I could tell that this conversation was making him edgy. Finally, he spoke up. "Look, if that was true, that meant she was depressed when I came, and I didn't see an ounce of suggestion she was depressed except when I said I was only staying temporarily and when I finished my ship, and those two instances were justifiable."

"That's because you were here." Jack's voice was a change of pace to the conversation. "I noticed how she seemed… different when you showed up. Happier then she had been in recent weeks. But when you left…"

Ratchet nodded and continued for him. "Everon grew worse."

Wheeljack's eyes narrowed, and he snapped, "So this is my fault again, is it?"

Ratchet responded by simply stating, "No. It's your bond's fault."

"Okay," Miko interjected. "Now I'm confused. I thought that After Stone thing was supposed to make you guys happier? You know, the whole 'permanent love' thing and all."

"Normally, yes. But normally, Airrant bonds are returned and made into a two-way bond or at least, the other does not return the feelings of love. Everon's case is different. Her spark _wants_ to make the Airrant bond a two-way bond, but she _physically _can't. This is stressing her already fractured spark, causing her emotions to lash out and her personality to shift. Her spark can't handle the stress."

"So what's happening to me?" I ask, finally choosing to speak up. "What's this fracture gonna lead to? More pain and mood swings, or…"

Ratchet's optics look sad. "Your spark knows that your body is incapable of accessing your Airrant. It's… well it is trying to compensate by changing your anatomy. I looked at the scans I took of you during your rage the night before Wheeljack… left… and the scans seemed to show that your body had significantly more Cybertronian components and synapses, not to mention some activity in your T-cog. Once the rage subsided, your anatomy shifted back some, but kept a little more Cybertronian aspects then normal."

"What's a T-cog?" Raf asked.

"It's the organ in Cybertronians that allows them to shift," I say, a bit of awe in my voice about the implications that Ratchet was saying. "Mine has been inactive since birth though…"

"And now," Ratchet says, "your body is trying to make use of the T-cog to allow you to shift into a Cybertronian form."

"So Ev could become a Bot!" Miko asked excitedly. "That. Is. Awesome!"

"No, it's not," Ratchet continues. "Everon's true body is _human_. We don't know how she could respond to a shift. It could kill her in the process, or at the least cause painful deformations."

**Neither of those sounds appealing…** Bee chimed in.

"So how can we stop this?" Wheeljack asks. "I'd rather keep her safe then risk her life for the off-chance she could be able to shift into a Cybertronian form."

Ratchet sighs, looking even more weary and tired. "I don't know… This isn't exactly an exact science—"

"Can't you just remove it?" Everyone turns to look at Raf. "I mean, just surgically take her Airrant out?"

Ratchet looked flustered. "We can't just take it out! Everon has to be the one to hand it to her bond mate—"

"Does anyone else think it's weird to call Wheeljack Ev's mate?" Miko asked Jack nonchalantly who blanched at the thought.

"—otherwise it defeats the purpose of the bond!"

Jack, after shaking off the idea of me having a mate, says, "Well, she could just give it to him after she comes out of surgery."

Ratchet stutters again. "Well, we can't touch it!"

"Have you ever heard of tweezers?" Miko then asked with an exasperated tone.

Ratchet's frustration melted to contemplation as he seriously began to consider the idea. "Whoa, whoa, hold up. You're not seriously performing open-spark surgery on Ev, are you?" Wheeljack exclaimed. "She's too small for that! Plus, she has a fractured spark for Primus' sake!"

"It's either that, or we risk Everon's spark shattering from that very fracture." Ratchet's words leave the room silent, everyone, even the humans, understanding the implications.

Speaking up finally, my dad asked, "Everon, what do you want to do?"

I hesitate, but when I speak, my voice is steady and clear. "I've wished that I could give Wheeljack my Airrant since he gave me his. I guess it's a plus that it will help get me out of this funk."

Ratchet gave a sharp nod of the head. "This is going to need some time and planning. I'm not even considering the operation for a few days, so for now, the best thing I think we can do is keep Ev calm and happy and as close to Wheeljack as possible."

I smirk and lean against Wheeljack's head and neck. "Looks like you're stuck with me for the next few days…" I tell him in a teasing tone.

He snorts and gives me a Cheshire grin. "You assume I was going to let you out of my sight. Been away from you enough, and it's going to be more like you're stuck with me for a while."

"Yuck!" Miko yells, effectively ruining the moment. "Are they always going to be like this?"

"With a full fledged Airrant bond?" Bulkhead interjects. "Pit, yes. We'd be lucky to pull them away from each other for about ten minutes during the first few weeks. Let's just be happy that they aren't spark bonding."

"That's where I draw the line with the surgery," Ratchet responded. "You two don't need to bond for her health, not to mention that I wouldn't want to deal with _that_." He then shuddered as he said that.

I twitch my head to the side as I feel a puzzled look come across my face. "What's wrong with bonding?"

"For one thing," Arcee said, "You are pretty young for an Airrant bond, much less a spark bond. Frag, _Wheeljack_ is actually kind of young for it. Another thing is that a spark bond makes the pair… well, _extremely_ loving…"

My eyes grow wide as realization dawns on me, and I can feel the blush spreading across my face and neck. Raf, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, didn't understand. "What do you mean? Isn't it a good thing that they love each other more?" My blush got worse.

"Okay, let's just steer away from this topic," Wheeljack interjects, most likely sensing my discomfort, but I could see the amused smirk on his face. I felt like hitting him for that smirk.

"Whoa!" Miko yells. "Why is Ev turning purple?!"

Jack looks at me and bursts out laughing. "Shut it, Darby!" I snap.

Through his laughing, I hear him manage to say, "Oh man, I… I haven't seen you blush this badly since my mom decided to step up and give you the talk!"

**What talk?** Bee bleeped confusedly. I felt like crawling in a hole and hiding.

"Mrs. Darby decided that since my dad was gone all the time that she would take on the responsibility of giving me the sex talk… most awkward conversation of my life." Jack started another round of laughing. "To make it worse, I had been showing Jack a pair of comm links I had been working on, and he heard the whole embarrassing conversation from the other room…" Jack was kneeling on the ground laughing by this point.

"You guys should have heard Ev. She sounded horrified the entire time! It was hilarious!"

I glare at him. "Hey, forgive me for not being well versed in how sex works! I had no idea it was like that…" I shuddered.

Miko interjects, though I wish she hadn't. "Wait, your Ratchet's apprentice! Shouldn't you have learned how this stuff works since you're like a doctor in training? Or is it different for Cybertronians?"

Ratchet looked as uncomfortable as me. "_That_ is a lesson I have been avoiding, seeing as it is both unnecessary and a bit… of an awkward topic."

"So can Ev and Wheeljack ever—"

"Okay, that's it!" I yell. "Conversation over! Wheeljack and I are going for a drive." I look at him and plead, "Now, please?!"

He chuckled, obviously extremely amused by the conversation. "Whatever you say, babe." With that, he scoops me off his shoulder and shifts to his Ferrari mode before taking off towards the base's exit. We are quiet for a minute before I can hear him ask with an amused tone, "So, do you want to know how Cybertronians interface?"

I got a satisfying yelp when I kicked his dashboard.

* * *

**Okay, so I've got it figured out. I'm gonna have three more chapters after this one, and then I'm ending the story to start the sequel, **_**Chasing Shadows of Angels**_**. I will give a more exact time of when I'm posting the new story later, so keep checking!**

**Also, don't forget to post your truth or dare ideas!**


	22. Chapter 16

**Okay, this chapter is sort of a bonding moment between Ev and Wheeljack. I realize that I haven't had all that many for the couple in this story, so I felt that this was needed. Enjoy! And review please!**

* * *

The past few days were catching up to me. Between the stress and the fact that I never really got a chance to truly recover from the poison, which my arm still aches from, I was exhausted. Contrary to what someone might think, passing out is _not_ an effective way to sleep.

So here I was, finally reunited with Wheeljack, and I was hopelessly failing at fighting off sleep. Sitting curled up in the passenger seat, I wrapped my arms around my legs and set my head on my knees resisting the urge to yawn. Eventually, after a comfortable silence, Wheeljack says, "You know you can sleep, right?"

"I'm fine," I reply stubbornly. "I don't need…" That's when a huge yawn came on, and I tried to hold it back, which failed miserably.

"You know, that was pretty cute," Wheeljack teased.

I glared at him. "You did not just call me cute…" I yawned again, and hearing the kitten-like quality to my yawn, I understood where he was coming from. "Frag it, I need caffeine. Can we head to town, please?"

Wheeljack chuckled lightly. "Course, babe."

Eyeing him lightly, I ask, "Where did the whole 'babe' thing come from?"

"It's a pet name. Why, do you not like it?"

I smirk and respond, "Well, I never said _that_. And yes, I do like it." Another yawn. "Slag it to the Pit, why couldn't I need recharges like you guys instead of sleep? I hate having to need more rest then you do."

"If it makes a difference, you're pretty cute to watch while you sleep." A pause. "Primus, that sounded less creepy in my head."

I can't help but laugh. "Yeah, but thanks for the compliment, sugar, however creepy it may be."

"Sugar?" Wheeljack asks confusedly.

With a cheeky grin, I respond, "You have your pet name, I have mine, and I like it. It means your sweet."

Wheeljack sighs and sarcastically says, "If the Wreckers could see me now… I would be getting so many jabs that I was going soft."

"Bulkhead is just as bad if not worse then you when it comes to being sweet," I remind him.

"Yeah, but Bulk's always been that way. Me, I've always tended to be…"

"A bit more unorthodox?"

"Pretty much. I've mellowed out since the Wreckers split, but we've never been known to be team players unless with others Wreckers."

I'm silent for a minute, and then I ask, "Are you going to be happy on Team Prime?"

"Ev, I'm here, with you. Trust me, I couldn't be happier anywhere else," he tells me seriously. Then, he adds with a lighter tone, "Besides, I got my wrecking buddy, and the rest of the team isn't that bad."

I give him a small smile. "You know, if you need a weekend off or anything for some space, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?"

"What, you trying to get rid of me already?" he asks in a casual tone.

I can feel my eyes widen as I begin to start back peddling. "What… no! No, that's not… I didn't mean—"

"Hey, easy Ev, I was kidding. I know what you meant." I collapse back into the seat from where I had jolted upright. Resting my head against the back of the seat as I slide downward, I let out a relieved sigh as my quickly beating spark begins to settle. "Wow, I didn't think I'd scare you this much…"

"Sorry, I just… I don't want a repeat of the other night…"

Suddenly serious again, Wheeljack says, "I'm not going to leave again, Everon. No matter what happens, I won't leave again, I promise."

Giving him a small smile, I say, "Thank you. And hopefully we won't have to deal with these moods soon…" I frown, then say, "Well, the extreme mood swings. I'm still known for being a terror."

He laughed, and then said, "I think we will be just fine. And as far as the weekend off thing, I don't think I'll need a weekend alone, but maybe we could talk the others into letting us go off for a weekend…"

I grinned and sat back up in the seat. "You do kind of owe me since you interrupted my last weekend away from base."

"Hey now, that wasn't my fault. And I thought you enjoyed telling off Starscream."

"Pssh. I was doing that _long_ before I met you. Knockout says we bickered like sparklings." I scrunch my brows together as I continue by saying, "Well, I guess I technically _was_ a sparkling…"

"What was it like?" His voice was tentative and curious.

"What? Being a sparkling?"

"Living with the Cons." I'm silent. After a few moments, Wheeljack continued by saying, "Look, I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but Ev, you need to stop bottling this up. The team says that in the three years since you've been back, you've barely talked about it. I'm sorry, but—"

"They were… they were surprisingly kind," I started hesitantly. "They treated me carefully, knowing that I was fragile, but they also gave me more liberties then the Autobots. They didn't treat me like a China doll… Actually, they kind of treated me the same way Cliff did. The same way you do, to a degree."

Silence. Deciding to prod a bit further, he said, "Any interesting stories?"

I smirk. "Oh, where to begin… the prank war, the truth or dare, the lullabies…" I look out the window as a faraway smile tugged at my lips. "I loved them. Still love, in a way. But…" My smile falls as I return to my silent contemplation. "Agent Fowler thought I had Stockholm syndrome. Probably still thinks it. Damien does too, but he doesn't bring it up anymore…"

"What's Stockholm syndrome?"

I sigh and say in a clinical sounding voice, "A mental state where a person who has been held captive for an extended period of time begins to form a bond of dependence on the captor." Another sigh. "It's not like that… It's…"

"They treated you like family, and you craved that. You're too kind to want anything other then that, and I could especially see that when you were younger. But Ev, no matter how kind they were to you, you were still a prisoner on that ship. You had no choice but to stay with them—"

"Why do you think I left?" My voice was meant to sound a bit harsh, but instead it sounded… broken. "I wish… Primus I would give anything for it not to have ended that way, but when Starscream told me everything, confirmed the fears I had about them from the beginning but had been too naïve to pay attention to… I was gone and calling base to come pick me up the next day."

After a second's pause, Wheeljack says, "Honestly, I'm glad. I'm sorry they hurt you, but… I'm glad that you came back to the Autobots. That I got to meet you, to know you."

My smile returns, and I say, "So am I. It hurt, but… I grew from it. I grew stronger, mentally and physically, in a way that it pushed me to make more of myself. And I'm glad you decided to come to this rock."

"Couldn't imagine myself wanting to be anywhere else." The lights of the little town of Jasper were coming into view. The sun had just begun to set, not quite to the horizon yet, but about an hour or so from it. "Guess it's time for you to take the driver's seat."

As I unbuckle and slide over the center armrest, not very gracefully I might add, I ask, "Can I actually drive?"

"In your condition?" he responds, meaning my current exhaustion impairing my thoughts, which had caused me to somehow get my leg caught in the passenger seat belt. "Maybe after you sleep. And by sleep, I mean more then a twenty minute power nap."

I snort as I finally wrangle my leg loose, but the final yank of my leg caused me to twist further, and I yelped as I ended up falling with my head near the gas pedal and my feet in the air. Wheeljack was _oh so_ kind about my predicament.

He burst out laughing while I quietly growled to myself.

"_This_… is why… you're not driving!" he said between laughs.

Giving one last growl, I twist back up into the seat and manage to sit properly. I can still hear Wheeljack snickering, which only grows louder as I glare at his console. "Thank you _so_ much for your concern," I tell him with an eye roll.

"Anything for you, babe," he tells me with a cheeky tone. "Now, I would pretend like you're driving. Coffee shop drive thru dead ahead."

With a mock pout, I grab the steering wheel as he rolls down the window. When the generic 'how may I help you' voice comes over the speaker, I respond by asking for chocolate overload latte with a triple shot of espresso.

Between the speaker and the window, Wheeljack asks with a curious voice, "Espresso? Isn't that the stuff you banned Miko from having?"

"It's a _really_ strong version of coffee. I'm gonna feel like I just crawled out of the slag pits when the crash comes, but I'm not quite ready to sleep."

"Ev…"

"Shush!" We had just reached the window, and I was pulling out some cash as Wheeljack's engine suddenly began to growl. Glancing casually at the rearview mirror, I see the problem. The coffee guy, decently cute by human standards, was blatantly checking me out while I wasn't paying attention.

I couldn't help but smirk at Wheeljack's possessiveness.

Turning back to the coffee guy, an idea strike's me. I lean out Wheeljack's window as the guy says, "Well, hello there. Are you the one with the chocolate overload latte?" He gives me a flirtatious smirk, but I'm not impressed.

But that doesn't mean I wasn't going to act that way.

"Oh yes! Thank you so much!" I say in a fake excited voice. "How much?" I ask with a slight smile. Before he could tell me, I 'drop' my debit card between the seat and the door. "Ugh! I'm such a klutz…" I then began to dig around trying to reach the card between the seat and the door.

"You know what," he said. "Don't worry about the card. It's on the house."

I look up with a perfectly faked expression of surprise and say, "Oh, I couldn't possibly—"

"It's fine, anything for a pretty girl who has a sweet taste in cars," he says as he hands me the coffee. Wheeljack's engine growls a little louder, so I decide that I need to end this and pop the coffee guy's little fantasies.

After taking the coffee, I say, "I know, it was _so _sweet of my boyfriend to let me drive his car!" As the coffee guy's 'suave' face fell, I say, "Well, I better be going. Bye!" With that, I roll up Wheeljack's window as he begins to drive away. We were silent up until Wheeljack pulled onto the road.

Then, we burst out laughing.

"Primus, you are such a tease!" he tells me.

My face suddenly turning serious, one brow raised, I ask, "Who said that I was merely teasing him?" After a moment of silence, we both burst out laughing again. As I calm down, I reach for my coffee in the cup holder. "Okay, seriously sugar, focus on driving. I don't want my_ free_ hot coffee spilt all over me."

He snorts. "I'm pretty sure I can drive just fine."

I smirk over the rim of my coffee cup. As I swallow the caffeine, I can't help but grimace then gag about my drink. "Primus, this stuff tastes like slag…"

"Did he mess up your order?" Wheeljack asked.

"No, it's what I ordered." I take another sip and grimace again. "I just don't like coffee."

With a confused voice, he asks, "Then why do you drink the stuff?"

"Because," I tell him with a matter-of-fact voice, "the caffeine."

"You are going to crash," he told me, his voice slightly serious. "You can't keep going like this. You need more recharge then me."

With a roll of my eyes, I tell him, "I'll be fine. I can sleep through tomorrow."

"Don't you have school?"

"They think I'm out from a car accident." A pause. "I'm thinking of dropping out."

Wheeljack suddenly turned, nearly causing me to drop my coffee, which I struggle to hold upright while he slammed to a stop in a parking lot. "What are you talking about? I thought you loved going to school! You know, the human life?"

I stare out the window. "My main reason for school was I wanted human friends, to be near Jack. Now, I have Jack plus Miko and Raf visiting the base on a near daily basis! Not to mention, I've missed so much school as of late, and with my work with Mech, I don't—"

"What's Mech?"

_Scrap._ "It's… a rouge terrorist organization, one that deals with high tech weaponry… and I may or not be pretending to be a spy for them in order to get into the organization…"

He is silent, and then yells, "What?!" His tone his both shocked and angered, and I can't help but sink a little in the seat. "Are your circuits fragged! Why, why would…" Silence envelopes us, and I could tell that Wheeljack was trying not to get angry. After what seemed like ages, he said, "Okay."

I was confused. "Okay… what exactly?"

"Okay, so tell me about your mission. I want every detail of this plan."

My jaw dropped, but after a moment of surprise, I go into extreme detail, explaining everything. He was silent with no responses during my explanation. "…so basically, we are just waiting for Silas to call…"

After a moment, he asks, "So, when he does call, are you going to go with him?"

"I think so… I mean, I need to if I'm going to gain his trust further and figure exactly what kind of threat Mech is to us. I have to try. I want to help the team more, and this is great opportunity for me to help…"

He sighs. "I'm not gonna lie: I'm not very comfortable with the idea of you going into this, especially with so little intel… but at the same time, I trust you to be able to handle yourself. But the minute you think things are going to the Pit—"

"I won't hesitate to get out. I promise." He sighs, but he doesn't say anything else. I pull my legs up to my chest and turn sideways in the seat, snuggling into a more comfortable position as I clutch my coffee closer to my face while occasionally sipping it. After sitting in the silence for a few minutes, I ask, "Could I play some music?"

He chuckles. "Course, babe. Whatever you want." I smile softly, and then I reach with one spare hand to dig my IPod out of my messenger bag along with the adapter cord I always carry with me. After hunting down a plug in port, which was stupidly placed in the back of the console and took some major twisting to reach, I scroll through my endless playlists of music.

Grinning, I ask excitedly, "Choose your poison."

He chuckles again as he starts to pull out of the parking lot. "Anything, just none of that screamo stuff—"

"Hey! It's _heavy metal_, not _screamo_," I tell him in an exasperated voice.

With a humph, he tells me in a light-heartedly argumentative tone, "Well, it has screaming in it."

"Only some of it…" I mumble. "And it's barely anything compared to Miko's music!"

"Primus, that girl is going to fry my audio receptors one day. I'm seriously considering hiding her guitar and amps."

"That will only earn us a pissed off and whiney Miko, which can be worse at times then the music." Finally, I stop my music scrolling. "Ah-ha! Perfect…"

Rapid drumming could be heard, followed by a chorus of voices singing, which I sang along with while occasionally throwing my head from one side to another.

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

_"Whoa…."_

For such sad and borderline creepy lyrics, the song was very upbeat and fast paced, and we couldn't help but get pumped by it. I sang along with exaggerated movements of my head and arms.

"_Close my eyes try to make it last.  
__Outrun the wretched memories of my past.  
__It moves too fast.  
__I got no chance.  
__A freight train racing set to crash."_

By this chorus, Wheeljack, who had been happily laughing at my sudden enthusiasm, joined in for the chorus, though he dropped off at the regular verses to let me sing since he didn't know the lyrics.

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

"_Wake up wondering: "How' did I get here?"  
__Then cross my heart and say a fuckin' prayer.  
__Ecstasy, tears,  
Bravery, fears.  
__This boat may float, but it don't steer."_

By this chorus, we are both yelling the lyrics, a grin plastered on my face at the simplicity of life in this moment.

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

"_Life's long and winding roads leading us  
__To a never ending trail to keep our youth._

"_It flashes by in lessons painfully attained.  
__Blood and sweat, black and blue,  
__Some surrender I got nothing' to surrender to._

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

___"Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._"

Wheeljack had made it to the highway by now, and we were speeding along, lost in the moment and the rush.

"_So now you're livin'.  
__So now you're livin'._

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

"_Broken bones and broken glass,  
__Broken hearts and broken heads.  
__Livin' the life._

_"__Close my eyes try to make it last,"_

I wish that life could forever be this simple.

Unfortunately, nothing ever is.

"_Outrun the wretched memories of my past."_

* * *

"So… this twenty questions, basically we just alternate asking each other random questions?"

"Yep."

"But we can only ask twenty?"

We were currently parked out in a random area of the vast Nevada desert at like o'dark thirty or something, just enjoying each others' company while my music playlist played lightly in the background. "Well," I tell him as I lean back against the hood of his car form, casually sketching in my notebook, which had been neglected in recent weeks. "You can play that version, but we don't have to. We'll just keep playing till we get bored."

"Or you crash from your coffee high."

I roll my eyes and sarcastically respond as I rake my long, brown and red highlighted hair back with a spare hair tie. "Yes, or that. Anyway, you first, sugar."

"Okay… favorite color?" he asked, sounding slightly unsure of himself.

I raise a brow at his simple question. "A dark, deep crimson color… Yours?" I turn my head to his windshield with a slight smirk.

"…Blue…"

Scrunching my brows, I ask, "Wait, that's not even one of your armor colors! Why blue?"

"I liked this color combo a while back, but soon into the war, I started wishing I had a different color. Like a dark blue with mostly black and a few white decals. Still, paintjobs aren't exactly easy to come by in wartime, so I never bothered."

With a small smile, I say, "I could probably talk Ratchet into helping me paint your armor a different color someday. It would be a nice change of pace project."

"Maybe," he responds casually, but I can hear the hint of excitement in his voice. "My turn. And I get two questions."

I sit up. "Wait, what—Scrap, I did ask another question, didn't I?"

"Yep. Now, what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

"Oh Primus," I say as I flop back down on his hood. "Definitely the Canada incident… Basically, me, Cliff, and Ratchet plus a herd of angry moose and a few broken Canadian laws… All I will tell you is that I ended up in Canadian jail for three days, and Ratchet ended up being impounded while Cliff… yeah, it wasn't exactly a good trip for us. That's all I'm telling you about it!"

"Wow. That sounds interesting…"

"We don't talk about it. At all. It is _banned_ from conversation at the base."

"Got it… so, what are you sketching?"

I stop mid pencil stroke and finally focus on the picture in front of me. What had started out as random lines and blends had turned into a dark resemblance of a familiar figure. No features were visible on the angel-shaped Cybertronian from my dream except the piercing silver-grey eyes. "It's just an idea from my head." Technically, that was true. She was from my head, but I couldn't seem to get past the idea that she was more then just a hallucination. "My turn!"

Suddenly, Wheeljack transformed to where he was holding me in his hand. I squealed, clutching my sketchbook and pencil to my chest with one hand and reaching forward to grab his hand as it finished shifting for balance with my free hand. As soon as he finished shifting, he dropped onto the ground and leaned back against a nearby rock. "Do your worst."

I sent him a mild glare. "Thanks for the warning." He merely gave me a sly grin in response. Once I settled in his hand as he pulled me close to his chassis, I asked my question. "Can Cybertronians get tattoos? And I don't mean the little metal etchings on your armor like your insignias."

"Yep. Though it's more like branding. Bulk and I have one along with all the other Wreckers. Remind me to show you one day."

"You could show me now," I tell him.

"…maybe after we're bonded. It's not exactly in a bad place, but it's under my armor so…"

I blinked a few times. "Did you get a tramp stamp or something?"

"What? What's a tramp stamp?"

I stood in his hand and turned around. "You know, one here," I told him as I gestured towards my lower back.

His brows scrunched together, and then he said as I sat back down cross-legged, "What, no. It's here," he said he placed his empty palm on his right chest plate. "Like I said, not in an inappropriate place, but I would rather wait till our Airrant bond is more… official before that… Primus, this is getting weirder then I expected."

I smile at his sudden awkwardness, and then my face turns a bit serious. "Wheeljack… it's not gonna bother you that we will never be able to, well, have a _real_ relationship. I mean, like what Miko was getting at earlier tonight."

He looks at me seriously. "Ev, I'm gonna be honest. From what I've seen about humans, most of you tend to be less… loose about _being_ with others unless you are close. Cybertronians, like myself, are different: we have a tendency to get intimate without much thought as to the closeness of it. I honestly believe that I will be fine. I love you more then I could miss that."

I look off to the side, staring at nothing in particular. "Promise me something. When I die, whether it be fifty years from now or tomorrow… I won't ask you not to mourn me. I know that will be pointless. But try to move on, to live your life. Remember the good times, learn from bad times, but always keep moving."

He is silent. I can see the strain in his face, but he eventually gives a sharp nod. I respond by pulling my knees to my chest and resting my head on top of them as I wrap my arms around them in my familiar fashion. We were silent, each thinking of the weight of my words.

The subject will never be easy. We will never be okay with the knowledge that I will most likely die long before Wheeljack. All we needed to focus on was the now: we are here, this is now, and we need to cherish it while we can.

So we sit, listening to the casual music coming from his speakers. I close my eyes and lean my head against his chassis, listening to the faint thrumming of his sparkbeat. I wish we could just pause time and live in this moment forever. No war, no factions, just this

Faint piano began playing, and the familiarity of the new song washed over me as I subconsciously began to sing aloud.

"_I've seen the world, done it all  
__Had my cake now.  
__Diamonds, brilliant, and Bel Air now.  
__Hot summer nights, mid July  
__When you and I were forever wild  
__The crazy days, city lights,  
__The way you'd play with me like a child._

"_Will you still love me  
__When I'm no longer young and beautiful?  
__Will you still love me  
__When I got nothing but my aching soul?  
__I know you will, I know you will  
__I know that you will._

_"Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?"_

As the lyrics played, I couldn't help but sadly think of my relationship with Wheeljack. I would fade, grow old and wither away, yet he would always be there, would always love me. It was more then I could ask for, hope for.

It was more then I deserved.

"_I've seen the world, lit it up, as my stage now.  
__Channeling angels in the new age now.  
__Hot summer days, rock 'n' roll  
__The way you play for me at your show  
__And all the ways I got to know  
__Your pretty face and electric soul."_

My spark ached as I delved into the chorus again, and I felt Wheeljack hold me even more tightly to his chassis.

"_Will you still love me  
__When I'm no longer young and beautiful?  
__Will you still love me  
__When I got nothing but my aching soul?  
__I know you will, I know you will  
__I know that you will._

_"Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?_

"_Dear lord, when I get to heaven,  
__Please let me bring my man  
__When he comes tell me that you'll let him in  
__Father tell me if you can.  
__Oh, that grace, oh that body,  
__Oh that face makes me wanna party.  
__He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds."_

A single tear escaped down my cheek.

"_Will you still love me  
__When I'm no longer young and beautiful?  
__Will you still love me  
__When I got nothing but my aching soul?  
__I know you will, I know you will  
__I know that you will_

_"Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?  
__Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?_

"_Will you still love me when I'm not young and beautiful?"_

Soon, the current song switched to one of my favorite songs. It was slow, like the last one, but it still had a decent pace. "Hey, can you sit me down, sugar?" I ask while shifting up onto the balls of my feet. He looks a bit confused, but he complies. As I jump off his hand, I say, "Turn it up, please!"

Violin chimed in as I slipped off my shoes quickly as I rush forward onto the open, hard-packed earth before us. As the words start, I sweep one leg forward while leaning back with one hand behind me on the dirt for balance. While the words continue, I continue my dance, bending my legs into the air and twisting in a modern style into a crouch with my eyes closed as I drank in the words.

"_Is it good or bad to fall in love so fast?  
__It heals until it hurts. It's a gift and it's a curse.  
__Oh it's bittersweet what you do to me.  
__Is it okay to be scared but still feel safe?_

"_Is it good or bad, yeah yeah yeah  
__Is it good or bad, yeah yeah yeah."_

As the chorus went on, my movements became more sudden, but still controlled in a way. When the next verse started, I had twisted to where I sat flexed on the ground. I stretched backwards, one hand reaching skywards before slipping silently into the next movements as I let the story of the meaning in the music be told.

"_I'm not a saint, no, and I don't claim to be, yeah  
__Love will make you reckless, wild and free, yeah  
__What's a heart if it doesn't get used? What's the point? What's the use?  
__So you said show me something new, things I never knew…  
__Like when we were kids, Take me somewhere I've never been."_

I wanted a happy ending for us. I wanted us to be able to be together, to have a normal relationship, whether it be a human or Cybertronian. But what is normal? I have never known normal: my life has never been steady, moving and changing like the dunes on a beach, or should I say the mountains after a rockslide or a quake. I was not born to have normalcy. I was born to endure, to adapt, to change views, to show how to live life, to give purpose, to inspire hope. I was born for others.

But I was not born for myself.

"_Is it good or bad to fall in love so fast?  
__It heals until it hurts. It's a gift and it's a curse.  
__Oh it's bittersweet what you do to me.  
__Is it okay to be scared but still feel safe?"_

I would live for him. To love him the way he loves me. I would live for my family, both human and Autobot and Decepticon. I would live for my mother, who died just after giving me life. I would live for my fathers, even Megatron, who I will carry the memories of the moments in which he was the kind and loving father whom I wished would have remained that way. I will live for all of them.

But I need them all to be able to live without me.

"_Is it good or bad, yeah yeah yeah  
__Is it good or bad, yeah yeah yeah."_

I'm not sure what brought on those thoughts. I'm not sure why I keep telling myself these things. I just feel… as if something big is coming. As if a turning point for me is up ahead. Between the chaos of the past few weeks, I feel as if everything I've endured is coming to a boiling point soon.

And I don't want to hurt them. Any of them.

"_So I took your hand, we ran through the street lights,  
__And when you stopped me, that was when I realized  
__That I can learn everything from your lips about you and me kissing, being told every secret kept  
__Everything you did you broken the same."_

I open my eyes and just pause in the moment, staring at him as I felt a single tear stream it's way down my cheek.

"'_Cause love just leads to pain."_

And then I fell into the music again.

"_Is it good or bad, to fall in love so fast?  
__It heals until it hurts. It's a gift and it's a curse.  
__Oh it's bittersweet, what you do to me.  
__Is it okay to be scared but still feel safe?"_

As I stop and merely stare at Wheeljack and how enthralled he is with me, the amount of pure love and admiration in his eyes, I begin to wonder how much I will end up breaking the ones I love.

"_Is it good or bad?"_

* * *

**I hope you liked that chapter. I wanted to throw in one of just Everon and Wheeljack as sort of a bonding chapter for them, at least before the next few. I plan on having only two or three more chapters till I end this story and start the sequel. Anyway,_ please review and tell me what you think_!**

**Oh, and Disclaimer: I don't own the songs **_**Broken Bones**_** by Anti-Flag, **_**Young and Beautiful**_** by Lana Del Ray, or **_**Good or Bad**_** by Action Item. Wow, I threw in a lot of songs…**


	23. Miko

**I know, I know. I said I would start updating more steadily, but school hates me. Anyway, only two more chapters till this story is done and I start the sequel! Please post any questions you might have in the reviews, or if you feel that something has not been explained well enough and you want better covered soon or in the next story.**

**I do not own Transformers Prime, unfortunately.**

* * *

Up until about two months ago, my life was _boring_. First, I had my dull, pristine life in Japan. Then, I come here to the U.S., expecting a life changing adventure, but all I find is that brochures _lie_. Well, it technically lied. I highly doubt that whoever wrote that brochure knew what was truly hidden in this little town of Jasper, Nevada.

Then came the day I met the Autobots. Though I had been drawing a picture of Arcee, it wasn't the bike that I had followed that day, thus leading to my discovery of Cybertronians. In all honesty, I had been following Everon.

To understand why I decided to follow Ev that day, you have to hear what she is like from my view. At school, I'm the weird Asian girl who has a penchant for not following the rules and being, well… weird. Everyone knew me by reputation, but no one really wanted to know _me_.

Then there is Everon. Without even knowing it, she was _easily_ the most popular girl in school. Not because she tries to be: she just _is_. I mean, the way she walks, the way she talks: people just flock to her. Everyone wants to know _her_. Hell, lots of people want to _be_ her. And Everon?

She has no clue.

For starters, she is drop dead gorgeous without even trying. The fact that she does put effort into her looks makes it so no one could even hold a candle to her. When I first came here, she stood out to me in a good way. Her makeup was exaggerated but flawless, and her outfit that day had a biker flare to it. The red through her hair stood out amongst everyone else, like my pink streaks, and it looked so natural for her. I was in awe.

I never spoke to her, though. Don't get me wrong: she was obviously one of the kindest people in the school, so long as you don't cross her. I would see her stop to help random people who asked her homework questions, or once I saw her casually walk up to a senior who was taunting a little freshman, punch him in the gut, and then quickly steer the kid away before anyone had realized what happened, leaving the senior's friends trying to figure out if he was okay. That was probably the most amazing thing I've seen anyone do at that school.

Well, at least until she threw that pencil at Mr. Pastelli.

Anyway, back to why I was following Ev. That day when she threw the pencil had been the first time I had ever talked to her. Sure, I had been there for a few months but I was… well, I was shy. Too shy to talk to her, at least. Then, I saw her chasing after Jack, and call it fate, but somehow I knew I needed to go after her. Thus my discovery of Cybertronians and meeting Bulkhead. Now, people at school want to be like _me_. They all are in awe at how one day, Ev and I didn't really know each other, and the next, we are almost as close as her and Jack. I owe it all to Ev, and I want to thank her so much for it.

That's what led to the chaos before me.

"What in the Allspark is all of this?!" Ratchet demanded as I tried in vain to carry one of the particularly huge bags of supplies from Bulkhead's backseat. Most of the bags were sprawled all over the floor around me.

"They're... supplies!" I grunted.

"For what, exactly?" Arcee asked as she approached, crossing her arms and staring at me in her 'this doesn't look like it's going to end well' face.

Bulkhead decided to speak up for me as Jack finally came over to help as I fell on my butt. "Miko wants to throw Ev a surprise party tonight."

"A party for what, exactly?" Wheeljack sauntered in the room while stretching and rotating his arms and shoulders. "Also, try to tone it down. Ev's asleep, and she needs way more rest then I do right now."

"You recharged for four whole hours. I highly doubt you need anymore then that," Ratchet snapped. One fact about Cybertronians: two hours of 'recharging' equals about three days of energy, so long as they aren't continuously overexerting themselves.

"Relax, Doc. I only recharged for like two hours. I was sitting in there to make sure Ev didn't try to wake up early. She is flat out exhausted. So, what's this about a party?"

I had finally stood back up, and as I tried to drag my bags to the side, I said, "It's Ev's birthday today, so we're having a surprise party for her! Good thing she's knocked out too, because otherwise we wouldn't have time to decorate and wrap her presents."

"Miko!" Jack whined. "You said you would wrap the presents _before_ today."

"Forgive me for forgetting while planning this soon-to-be awesome—"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second," Wheeljack interjected a look of confusion and maybe even a hint of panic on his face. "A birth-day party? And what's this about presents?"

"It's a human thing," Raf explained. "Every year, we celebrate the day someone was born. At least, most people do."

"Ev's never been one for big parties," Jack explained. "I didn't even know what her birthday was until we were eight, and that was only because the teacher announced it in class."

"Yeah, the rest of us only found out a few days ago at that party," I explained. "Didn't give us much time to plan except for this fragger who already knew about it _and_ what he was getting her," I comment as I gesture towards Jack. "Oh, we also tend to give the birthday person gifts when we celebrate."

Wheeljack suddenly looked nervous. "I don't have a gift for her! I need to find something—"

"Easy, Wheeljack," Optimus said as he strode into the room, Bumblebee in tow. "Everon has never been one to want gifts. Considering you didn't even know of the human tradition for birthdays till today, I am sure she will take no offence."

"It's not about offending her!" Wheeljack snapped. Immediately calming, he replied sheepishly, "I just… I want to get her something."

**You could make her something**, Bee bleeped. **You still have a few hours.**

"Uh…" Bulkhead interjected nervously. "Jackie and building things normally ends with an explosion… or two…"

"Hey! I'm not that bad," Wheeljack cried indignantly.

Arcee rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Considering the fact that your signature weapon is a grenade, I don't really find that hard to believe."

"Okay, back on topic!" I yell at the others. "We need to get this all set up, ASAP! Jackie, if you _want_ to make Ev a gift, you're excused for two hours. Jack, make sure he doesn't blow anything up."

Jack looked up nervously to the white Bot who was rolling his eyes at Miko's comment. "I'm not sure how much help I'm gonna be with that…"

"Fine. Ratchet, go with Wheeljack." The medic scoffed, but before he could complain, I asked, "Unless you want to help decorate? I'm sure I could find something for you to do…"

Grumbling, Ratchet stormed past Wheeljack while gesturing for the Bot to follow him. "Let's make sure you don't blow off an arm or something."

As they entered the hall, Wheeljack retorted, "Hey, I am _not_ that accident prone!" A pause. "And I've only done that once!" Pause. "Maybe twice…"

"He obviously doesn't remember the incident on Hatar…" Bulkhead grumbled.

"I heard that!"

"Anyway," I say turning to the remaining Bots and humans. "Let's get to work!"

* * *

"Miko, how many more balloons do we need?"

"Finish the bags. There shouldn't be that many left."

"You bought at _least_ a few hundred balloons. And I'm not even exaggerating."

I rolled my eyes at Jack and merely walked away. I could hear him sigh behind me. It's not like anyone else could do it: the helium tanks had to be worked by a human, and I already had Raf working on lights and the music station. Since Ev was such a music-nut like me, that was even more crucial then the balloons. Arcee and Bumblebee were off to the side arguing on the best spot to hang up the disco ball I 'borrowed' while Bulkhead stood nervously to the side holding it, afraid he might drop the thing or something.

"Um, Miko," I am in the process of looking at my official checklist for the party (I take these things seriously, and planning is _crucial_), so I don't look up at the Prime when I turn to him and make a sound of acknowledgement. "I believe I may require some… assistance with the streamers."

"What do you—" For a beat I'm silent as I look at the Autobot leader, but then I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry… but, man I need a picture!" I pull out my phone to take a quick snapshot of Optimus. I had given him the streamers (I had gotten a _ton_), since he was tallest, and told him to simply hang them everywhere and anywhere. But apparently, he had some issues, because it looked like _all_ of the streamers were currently hanging from him as he dawned a confused and slightly embarrassed face. "Maybe we should just leave the streamers there. Ev would love this!"

"Love what?" Ratchet asked as he stepped into the room. He merely looked at Optimus, shook his helm and then glared at me. As Ev has said in the past, that was _so _not my fault.

"I was… hanging streamers. I hung most of them, but some wouldn't cooperate."

Ratchet shook his head, and then continued towards his station. "Never mind. I need to grab a tool and hurry back before—"

_BOOM!_ Then, a distant, _"I'm okay!"_

"I left you alone for _two minutes_!" Ratchet yelled as he snatched some tool off his desk and stormed back down the hallway, his arms tight at his sides.

We all just stared after Ratchet's retreating form before Bulkhead, who had dropped the disco ball during the explosion, said, "Well that took longer then I thought." He then looked down at his feet where the shattered bits of the mirrored ball laid scattered across the floor. "Scrap…"

"Uh guys," Raf piped up from his makeshift DJ and light stand. "That was a little… loud. Maybe someone should check on Ev—"

"What in the frag is going on?! Was that an exp…" Everon stopped dead in her tracks as she entered the main room. Her face was utterly confused as her gaze traveled from Raf and his set up which currently consisted of a mess of electrical equipment scattered everywhere to Arcee and Bumblebee who were locked in a glaring contest to Bulkhead and the shattered disco ball to Jack and his massive hoard of balloons to Optimus covered in streamers (she seemed to double take at that) before _finally_ settling her gaze on me.

As she crossed her arms and raised a brow to me, I blurt out, "Happy Birthday!..."

"I take it this was your idea?" she asked as a small smile graced her face.

I look around and frown. "Yeah… but I had planned out so much more then this, and well I—" I suddenly stop talking as a pair of arms quickly wrap me in a tight hug.

"Thank you," she tells me, and when she pulls back from the rare hug, I can see a glint of happiness in her eyes. "You didn't have to do this, any of you. I don't need a big party."

"That doesn't mean you don't deserve one," I tell her with a serious tone. She smiles lightly before hugging me again.

"Okay, it's done!" Wheeljack announces just before walking through the archway from the hall. "Now, I don't really know what your supposed to do when wrapping it, but maybe you could help… me…" He stops once he enters the main silo's space, staring at the chaos all around before settling his gaze on me. Or well, Ev. He jolts, and then quickly moves his hands behind his back, hiding whatever he was holding. "Ev! What a surprise… Why are you awake?"

She narrows her eyes and crosses her arms. "I don't know, maybe it was the _explosion_ I heard down the hall? So, what are you hiding?" A smirk grows on her face as she quirks her brow at her boyfriend. At least I think he's her boyfriend. Mech-friend? I don't know.

"Um… Well—"

"Okay, the party might not be much of a surprise anymore, but some things still are gonna be!" I announce. "Jack, you can stop with the balloons and go help Wheeljack."

"What am I, your servant?" Jack asks exasperatedly.

"I would consider you more of a helper monkey—"

"Hey!—"

"Moving on! While you two finish up with the undisclosed items, which I'm sure you know what I mean, we shall be out here starting up the dance—" My declaration is cut off by an electrical sound and crackling, followed by a startled gasp from Raf. Looking, I see him sheepishly waving away smoke from the stereo system he had been trying to set up. "—party…" I finish deflatedly. After a moment of silence, I yell a few choice words in Japanese, earning a glare from a few of the Bots.

"Language, young lady," Ratchet warns. I send him a quick glare before crossing my arms angrily. Then, I turn to see an amused looking Everon standing behind me.

"How about a game instead?" she offers. I sigh and merely shrug. Things couldn't get worse, right?

* * *

Okay, so _maybe_ things didn't get worse, but they did get a little weird. Let's just say, truth or dare has turned out to be a bit of an interesting game between the Bots and the humans.

So far, the highlights were that we had learned that Bulkhead had once gotten stuck in a doorway during a raid on a Decepticon base for four hours (they won the base so it wasn't all that dangerous, but earned major teasing from his fellow Wreckers), Raf was scared of puppets (my response was "Seriously?"), and Optimus had a fear of talking to femmes: apparently he would freeze up and start stuttering whenever a pretty femme tried to talk to him. As far as dares went, Bee was reduced to having to do the chicken dance (I thought it was a little weak of a prank, but Ev couldn't seem to stop laughing and would only tell us that it was "a long story"), I had been dared to let Ev splatter paint me (there is now even _more_ paint on the walls of her room), and Arcee… well let's just say she is currently not very happy.

"I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this."

"You! I wasn't even the one dared!"

I was grinning from ear to ear. I may have been covered in paint, but Arcee's dare was w_ay_ more embarrassing. Arcee turned her glare to Optimus. "You are going to get it."

"Psh. Quit whining. I_ know_ your enjoying it," I tell her as I pull out my phone for another photo.

"I most certainly am not!" she snaps back, her glare looking even more intense. Ratchet's glare was just as bad as he leveled his gaze with his slightly smirking leader.

"What's with all the ruckus?" Wheeljack asks as he finally saunters back into the room carrying a few badly wrapped presents while Jack walked in behind him. That's when his gaze landed on Arcee and Ratchet. While Jack stared, slack-jawed, Wheeljack quirked a brow and asked, "Shouldn't you two get a room for that?"

"Go frag yourself!" the two responded vehemently. To explain what's going on right now, basically imagine Arcee being asked truth or dare by Optimus. Thinking he would be safe, she chose dare. Now, Arcee currently had her hand super glued.

To Ratchet's rear.

"By the Allspark, Optimus," Ratchet whined as he turned his gaze back to our smirking leader, "Was this really necessary?"

"It may not have been necessary, old friend, but it certainly is entertaining and worth the repercussions."

I turn my gaze away from the ensuing debate and look towards Everon. Wheeljack had already deposited the gifts next to Jack, who was currently trying in vain to stack the pile, and Jackie had immediately went over to Ev, scooped her up and nuzzled her close to his face before depositing her on his shoulder. Her response was her unique, purplish blush creeping onto her face and neck as he nuzzled her, but she contently curled into the side of his neck after he placed her on his shoulder.

I'm not sure what to make of their relationship. Do I like them together? Definitely! The two just fit. They gravitate around each other. I could tell since they first met, and I had been telling Jack all along the two would make a great couple. I just wish that they didn't have to deal with the species gap. I can tell it's hard on them, but if anyone can make this work, it's Everon and Wheeljack.

"Okay, since we seem to have hit some tension—"

"That's an understatement," Arcee grumbled.

"—maybe we should pause for presents," I finish after giving the grumbling motorcycle a look. Ev's eyes brightened as she perked up from her spot on Wheeljack's shoulder and began fidgeting. This caused me to smirk.

Raf popped my bubble. "Doesn't cake come before presents?"

I paused for a moment, and then let out a slew of Japanese curse words. Again. Then the Bots gave me a pointed glare for the words. Again. All I could do was exasperatedly announce, "I forgot the slagging cake!"

Bee then bleeped something at me, and I tilted my head in confusion. Raf translated. "Ev apparently doesn't like cake, so we're good. Let's go ahead and skip to the presents."

"Wait: she doesn't like cake?!" I exclaim. Turning to the birthday girl, I say, "You really are an alien."

She rolls her eyes at me. "I just don't really like sugar all that much. Makes me feel nauseous. Ratchet thinks it has something to do with it not mixing well with my Cybertronian systems."

Wheeljack turns his head to look at her, his brow raised and a smirk on his face. "Really?" he drawls. "I thought you liked sugar. Means that something is sweet…"

Her blush slightly returns as she mock glares at him. "Different kind of sugar, Sugar."

He chuckles. "Whatever you say, babe."

I gagged.

"Can we get back to the presents?" Jack interjects. Everyone started nodding their heads vigorously, obviously not used to the couple's flirting. Optimus looked the most awkward about the situation.

"Presents!" Ev squeals—yes, the tough as nails badass that she is, squealed— and jumped off of Wheeljack's shoulder onto a lower, nearby platform, landing balanced and poised on the top of the railing, before jumping to the ground in a roll and scrambling towards the haphazardly stacked presents.

I couldn't but laugh at all the panicked faces from Ev's stunt. "I still don't know how your able to do all that. It's totally amazing!"

She smirked. "I guess it does pay off to have two warrior's sparks. I apparently inherited a good bit of their natural talent."

Wheeljack recovered first from the panicked section of the room. "Ev! You need to be careful, you're gonna hurt yourself!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm _fine_. I just jumped down. It's not like I haven't been doing that for a while now."

"Well normally you're not…"

She scrunched her brows together as her gaze traveled between everyone. "I'm not what?"

"Exhausted. You've been dealing with a lot of stress lately, and you were in critical condition just a short while ago…"

"I'm fine," she restated, her tone a bit sharper. Wheeljack sighed, but didn't say anything else.

The conversation made me look at Everon's condition more intently. She was paler: gone was her alabaster and pearl colored skin, slowly being replaced with something a hint more chalky, maybe even a bit sickly. Her red-streaked hair hung limp, without it's normal flow, and though I couldn't see her waist through the oversized t-shirt and shorts, her arms and legs looked… thinner. Even her cheeks were starting to show faint signs of sinking in on themselves. Her eyes, though: shining, bright eyes, though still showing there normal exuberance were beginning to dull a bit, shadowed by faint, dark circle under them.

Everon was _not_ fine. Not by a long shot.

"So, whose should I open first?" she asked excitedly as she scanned over the pile. I plastered a smile back on my face, as everyone else did. Our worry wouldn't help her. Not with her past injury, not with the stress as of late, and certainly not with her spark fractures from Megatron, Skyquake, and Cliffjumper. "If none of you speak up, I'm just going to randomly pick." All we could do is help her cope until she is bonded to Wheeljack. Then, everything should get better.

Right?

"If no one else is going to speak up," Ratchet interjects, "then I will claim the first present." As he starts to move forward, he realizes he has a tag along. "Oh, for Primus' sake, can we detach her hand from my aft?!"

"After the presents," Optimus declares, and the rest of us can't help but snicker while Arcee and Ratchet send glares around the room.

The presents went through rather quickly. Ratchet gave Ev a set of Cybertronian medical tools(of course), hand crafted for her size. Jack bought tickets to next year's Warped Tour concert for the four of us. Bulkhead built Ev a specialized training course in one of the spare rooms. I gave her an _awesome_ CD with my renditions of some of her favorite songs. Arcee had hunted down some parts that Ev had been scouring various junkyards and sites for some time now. Bumblebee had entry spots for a rad looking racing event over in Spain (he had gotten Optimus' approval to enter the race, provided they were extremely careful), and Raf had created a fake ID and paperwork for the two of them. Each of the presents was received with much happiness and exuberance on Ev's part.

Optimus' present was by far the most awesome by this point. "Everon," he announced as he kneeled down to her. She extended her arm to him and he to her, a motion that they haven't done in the past few weeks, as they exchanged soft and tender smiles. After a moment of reconnecting, he spoke. "In the past few months, you have increasingly been more involved in Autobot affairs. You have proven yourself a valuable member of this team, and in response to your valiant efforts and brief discussions with the rest of the team, I would like to officially offer you a formal position on Team Prime as the team's second in command."

Silence enveloped the room as Everon stood still, a shocked look on her face. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"Um, I don't know," I interjected sarcastically. "How about YES!"

Her head began to nod vigorously as the rest of the room burst out into whoops and cheers. Optimus smiled proudly at her as she ran up to him and hugged his hand as best she could. "Are you sure?" she asks him timidly.

"I am certain," he responds, no wavering to his voice. "We all are."

"The Cons better watch out!" I yell. "Team Prime has a new deputy in town!"

Jackie leans towards Bulk and asks, "What's a deputy?" Bulkhead merely chuckles, and then nudges the white bot forward. Wheeljack seems to get the hint and proceeds to carefully pick up the last present. Walking over to Ev, he kneels down closer to her level before speaking to her in a bit of a sheepish tone. "Uh, I didn't have much warning, so I didn't have much time to work on it…"

She grinned to him before hopping up in his hand and settling down with the present in her lap. "You didn't have to get me anything, Sugar. You don't even know Earth customs yet."

She gingerly began to pull apart the wrapping paper. Raf whispered to me, "It's not going to explode, right?"

"Don't know. But that would be awesome!"

"Not for Ev," Jack responded tartly. "She was already in _one_explosion this month. I don't think she needs to be in _another_."

"Spoil sport."

By this point, Ev had gotten through the paper and was opening the box. She gasped as she carefully lifted the boxes content to the light to examine it. What she held up looked like a soft, black leather choker with silver and exquisite looking centerpiece. She gently traced a finger over the metalworking as she spoke. "It's beautiful…"

"It's not just a necklace," Wheeljack explained. "It's a specialized recording device. It's designed to give off undetectable frequencies to human and Cybertronian scanners in a manner that's sort of like your radar. It records the bounce back frequencies and even the sounds for various areas of your surroundings for up to one hundred feet, creating a perfect 3 dimensional reading of your surroundings. The data is then sent back to base every twelve hours."

"Nice," Arcee commented. Her mood had finally picked up because she had managed to pull her hand off Ratchet's butt at some point during the presents. "I take it that it's meant for when she is on her mission?"

"Yep. We can station someone to monitor the footage as it comes in. That way, we can know if she needs to be pulled out or not. The most she will have to hold out for is twelve hours, but that's better then us not knowing at all."

During his explanation, Ev had clasped the perfectly fitting choker around her throat and climbed up to Wheeljack's shoulder. Hooking her feet into a gap on his armor, she hung upside down to where she was level with a mirror on one of his door wings and admire her new piece of jewelry. "I love it!" she declared.

"I'm glad," he responded as he turned his head back over his shoulder to watch her. As I look at his face and see the look of pure love as he watched her, I simultaneously wanted to gag and 'aww' at the same time.

That's when I noticed the anxious look Arcee was giving the others. She cleared her throat and gained Ev's attention as the girl climbed back up onto Wheeljack's shoulder. "Ev, there is one more present that we wanted to give you."

Ev cocked her head to the side in familiar habit that reminded me of a bird. "Who is left? Fowler normally gives me a gift when we go out to dinner…"

"Actually, it's not from us. We just wanted to give it to you in place of someone else who couldn't be here today." She walked quickly over to the side of the room and pulled out a small package from behind a crate. Her steps back to Ev were more hesitant. "He got this for you a few years ago, actually, around when you were fourteen. I don't know what's in it, he would never tell me, but… Cliffjumper said he wanted you to have this when you turned seventeen."

Everyone was quiet, their eyes intently focused on Everon, who was still except for a slight shake in her hands. Wheeljack scooped her up and cradled her front of his chassis as Arcee handed the gift to Ev. He then sat her on the platform, and she immediately darted to the couch. Flopping down and pulling the gift into her lap, she hesitated, and then intently began to open the wrappings. A small smile had been teetering on her face the more paper she pulled off.

When she opened the box, though, a look of horror crossed her face as she threw the box onto the table.

"Ev, what's wrong?" Wheeljack asked worriedly, moving up right next to the railing as he began to look panicked. Jack, Raf, and I ran to the stairs, and as we reach the top, we can see Ev pacing and hyperventilating as Wheeljack repeatedly tried to reach for her to soothe her only for her to back away. "Easy Ev, just relax—"

"Don't tell me what to do!" He reached again and she recoiled just the same, her quick jerking movements causing her to stumble on the table, but she didn't seem to care. "And don't touch me!" She is obviously hysterical, and most of her sentences are broken or incoherent. "Why me? What do— I don't understand! Why me? Why! What do you see in me?!"

Jack and Raf were slowly edging towards her, arms held up in a 'I mean you no harm' manner, but I had another direction in mind. Making a beeline to the table, I pick up the box and open it before Everon could protest. Seeing the contents, I could feel my eyes practically bulge out of my head. Ever so gently, I scoop it into my hand and hold it up for the others to see.

It was an Airrant.

Fresh tears began to flow down Everon's face as she backed up against the far railing, trying to grasp it for support but failing. She slowly sunk to the ground, sitting in a crumpled manner, one knee bent up, the other splayed out as her hand still grasped the railing while her other covered her mouth to muffle the weeping gasps she made.

"I didn't know," she half whispered, half sobbed. "I never saw the signs. He was my _brother_. I never saw the truth. I never looked. I…" She quieted and just sat on the ground, still shaking.

Everyone was stunned, some of them looking guilty, feeling that this pain was there fault for bringing out the unknown gift, others not sure what to feel. Wheeljack was obviously in pain, probably feeling Ev's pain through the bond they shared. None of us knew what to do. How do you comfort someone in this type of situation? Her dead best friend, who she considered as much of a brother as Jack, maybe even more, loved her. And I mean _loved_ her. She was so fragile when it came to him. And this?

I think it's finally broken her.

As I think this, she lunges forward and quickly makes her way down the platform stairs. As she takes long strides across the silo floor, Optimus finally calls out to her, seeing as how the rest of us were at a loss for words. "Everon, where are you going? Are you—"

She whirls on him, and we could see her eyes change. Gone were the liquid silver pools we had known and loved, and in their place were the mechanical structure of silver-gray Cybertronian optics. This was not going to end well… "Am I _what?_ Am I alright? I have never been fragging alright! Don't you dare ask if I'm alright! My life was destined for the Pit from the day you tried that spark shock on my mother! So don't you_ dare_ have the audacity to ask if I'm alright. As far as where I'm going, I'm going out, and you can shove any other questions you have up your aft!"

She starts to move across the silo again, and we all stand in stunned silence. Wheeljack speaks up. "Ev, babe, you're not thinking straight. You're in one of you're mood swings." He had started walking over to her, and now he was kneeling next to her as she slipped on a spare pair of boots near her bike. She ignored him. "You need to _rest_. You can't go out."

Her eyes cut up to him. "Just because you're bonded to me doesn't mean you can tell me what I can and can't do."

"No, I can't," he admitted. "But I can worry about you, and you're not thinking straight right now."

Her softened a bit, and I took this chance to run over to them, sensing that she is slightly calming down. Her eyes wavered slightly from Cybertronian to normal silvery pools, but suddenly she clenched her eyes shut and grasped her head in pain. "Ev!" I yelled as I finally reached my friend and pulled her into a tight-gripped hug.

"I need to go," she said through clenched teeth. "I don't want to hurt any of you, and I can't calm down around you all. I need to get away, calm my mind then I will come back." She looked into my eyes, and I could see the pleading in them.

I pursed my lips as I stared into her tired eyes. "You promise?"

She nodded her head. "Only a few hours. I promise. I will find a little alcove or something in a mesa to rest. I just need to be away from everyone for a bit. Please?"

Soon, she had dawned her riding jacket and was riding out of the base into the cool desert night, Cliffjumper's Airrant in hand while Wheeljack's still hung about her neck along with his new device. As I watched her drive away, I had no idea that this would be the last time I saw Everon before she died.

* * *

**And that's how I'm ending this chapter. I know, a little teaser, but I like it this way. At least, I like it with what I have planned. Cliffjumper's Airrant was a last minute decision. I figured that I needed something more solid to send her over the edge, and this idea popped in my head.**

**As for the chicken dance reference, just read my little side stories in _Silver Eyes and Lullabies_ to know what I'm talking about.**

**So, tell me what you think! Please review! And only two more chapters till I start the sequel!**


	24. Falling into the Nothingness

**I know I said two more chapters, but I decided to end it with this one. I want the other chapter I had planned in the next story. I think it would blend better that way with my ideas.**

**And now, the final chapter in my story!**

**Also, thank you to Ardent Aspen for writing the songs later in the story!**

* * *

"So, my dear, any last words?"

My eyes slowly draw upwards, leveling my gaze with the man standing over me. My body ached from the torture it had endured. The gun was aimed for my chest, and I couldn't help but lightly laugh at the situation. "In all my life, I never thought that I would die from a human, let alone a bullet."

He smirked and then leaned in close to my face, a few short inches away. I didn't even flinch. I was beyond fear. "If you agree to tell us what we want to know, you won't have to end up like your friend."

I shudder and close my eyes as I think of Damien. Primus, he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be tortured and to die the way he did.

The way I will.

"After what you did," I tell him, my eyes glaring straight into his in an unwavering way. "I would rather jump off a cliff. I will _never_ betray the Autobots. So do your worst."

His smirk grew. He reached forward and played with the dog tags hanging around my neck. "I should have known. Loyalty. Your mother was just as bad. Too bad your loyalty was for the wrong team."

I felt my blood go cold. "What did you say about my mother? What. Did. You. _Say_!" My voice came out somewhere between a snarl and a scream. It reminded me of my father. The few times I saw Megatron angry, he had been terrifying. In that moment, I felt like I was channeling him. It normally would of scared me. In this moment, I didn't seem to care.

The few men I could see in the room flinched. My executioner didn't.

As he cocked his gun and aimed for my chest again, I realized that that was what he was. My executioner. I was going to die today. My family would suffer from my loss, both Decepticon and Autobot. And Wheeljack. Primus, he would be devastated.

The only comfort I could take was that my executioner had taken off my Airrant back in the beginning. He called it a trophy, and though it sickened me, I was glad that he cut off my bond to Wheeljack. He wouldn't have to feel my pain, just the last burst of love I sent him before my Airrant was lost to me. I now have no idea where it is, though Cliffjumper's was still safely stowed in my bike.

"I wonder how the Autobots will respond to your death. The loss of someone close to you can destroy a person. Tell me, do they at least feel? Will they feel sorrow that you died? That you died protecting their little secrets? I will find out what I want to know about them eventually, you know. I'm persistent. Then your death will mean nothing."

His smirk grew into a feral half-grin. "You have no hope of making it out of this. At least, not alive."

I smirked at him in an equally sadistic way. "You think you can lecture me on the loss of someone you care about? Trust me, I've had _plenty_ of that in the past month or two._ I know much of hope and destruction_."

Something in my eyes must have scared him, because I could see the vaguest flinch as I spoke the last line ever so slowly and dangerously. I hoped my eyes were shifting, that they were unnerving him as much as my violet shaded blood had when he had made his first cut. Trying to gain back control of the situation, he spoke again. "As I was saying," he began. "Any last words?"

I look to the gun, and my voice is steady yet heaped with emotion. "That I'm sorry. I'm sorry to my team. I'm sorry to my friends. I'm to Wheeljack… And I'm so sorry, Daddy."

Didn't I tell you in the beginning of my story? I had warned you. I told you that I had hoped to avenge all the lives lost in the battles, for all those who had died in this war, including me.

You probably just forgot that part.

"Goodbye, Everon Prime."

_BANG!_

I heard the blast of the gunfire. My ears began ringing as I vaguely felt the warmth of my own blood pour down my chest before the sharp pain and warmth was replaced with a cold numbness. I heard my sharp intake of breathe.

I heard a flutter, a flutter of wings.

Then, I heard nothing.

* * *

_Six Hours Earlier_

Wind whipped through my hair as I felt the pounding in my head ever so slowly subside. _Just breathe, it will go away soon enough. You got away before you could do any _real_ damage_. I then wince as I thought of my rant at my father. That made me feel horrible. As soon as I get back, I was going to be apologizing till I was blue in the face. I know he won't hold it against me, but I still felt horrible about how I had snapped at him.

I was getting sick of these mood swings. They made me worse then a pregnant woman. I guess that this will make up for the fact that I won't ever be a pregnant woman…

_Where had _that_ thought come from?_ In the past few days, I had become increasingly aware of what limitations would come from my relationship with Wheeljack. The limitations were always in our minds despite how we try to ignore it. Yes, we love each other, and I don't regret choosing him for a moment, but part of me is becoming more acutely aware of what I'm sacrificing by choosing him.

I think of Damien. He had become such a close friend, despite his obvious end goals, and by the Pit, I _miss_ him! I had known his intentions from the beginning, and he was fully aware of the off chance of his ending up hurt. Still, that betrayal, him _lying_ about what he was really doing with the team, his spying on me… I don't know what to think. Maybe this was best…

That's when I finally noticed the headlights of the car following me. I could easily recognize the black and electric green Ferrari. "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear…"

I pulled off to the side of the rode and waited for him to follow suit. I stepped off my bike after kicking down the kickstand and leaned against it, crossing my arms over my torso in a shy and unsure manner. He stepped from the car and slowly strode to me and leaned against the bike next to me. "Hey," he said, his voice sounding slightly unsure and cautious.

I finally turn my gaze to look at him. After a moment, I say, "You look like slag." Well, he did. Bags under his eyes, excess stubble across his face, the works.

He snorted. "Thanks," he drawled. "You aren't exactly looking your best either." I snorted, the same contemptuous way he did. My gaze turned downward. I knew what a wreck I was becoming. I could see it in everyone's eyes. The worry. The plastered smiles. I couldn't wait for Wheeljack and I to be able to bond so that this mess could be put behind us.

Then my gaze turned backed to Damien. His eyes were cast downward, but I knew what he was feeling. He knew that we would never work, that I loved Wheeljack too much. But he still held out on a whim that I would choose him.

I didn't understand either of them. Neither knew me very long before they decided they loved me. Each had handed me their souls on a silver platter and had basically let me be the deciding factor of whether or not their soul would be accepted or crushed. I just _couldn't_ understand. At least Cliffjumper had known me for some time…

Oh, Cliffjumper.

How blind am I that I could string along so many? Wheeljack could never have a normal relationship with me. Damien would suffer until his stubborn soul finally unclasped itself from me. And Cliffjumper? Had he suffered by my naïve understanding of what I truly meant to him?

I should have saw it. Should have seen the signs, noticed the change in our relationship. I noticed that when I came back, we had grown closer almost overnight, and within the next year or two, we had become near inseparable. We meshed so well, but never in my wildest dreams did I think he could feel this way for me…

And the more I thought, the more I wondered if maybe, deep down, I felt the same for him.

Was it possible to love them both? Both Wheeljack and Cliffjumper? The more I thought, the more I realized that the truth was that I could. I loved them both, more then I ever realized. But for one of them, it was too little, too late. Gone was my chance to show my love to Cliffjumper, and my spark ached with this realization.

"I can see the pain on your face." My thoughts broke as I quickly turned my eyes to Damien. "I take it a lot has happened since my banishment?" Biting my lip, I quickly nod my head. Before I could speak, though, a loud and low growl sounded from my stomach. Both of our eyes widened as he stared at me, then his gaze traveled down to my stomach before returning to my face. "Damn, girl, when was the last time they fed you?!"

"Honestly? I haven't eaten in like a day. I think." He quickly wraps an arm around my shoulders and steers me towards his car. "Wait! My bike—"

"Will be just fine. C'mon, you need to eat." My stomach then growled again. "…preferably before your stomach eats me."

* * *

_Five and a Half Hours _

"You didn't have to do this," I say between large mouthfuls of fries.

"Based on the way you're eating," he replied with a smirk, "I think I did." The look I gave him was supposed to be an intimidating scowl, but I guess my French fry stuffed cheeks kind of weakened the edge in my glare, causing his smirk to grow into a full-blown grin and a deep chuckle.

I roll my eyes and take a drink of my coke to help wash down the fries. Once my mouth is empty, I snark at him. "Well, I've been a little stressed as of late, if you haven't noticed."

His grin shrinks into a sad smile. "I haven't exactly been around the past few days, now have I?" I turn my gaze away and remain silent. He sighs. "I'm sorry. What I did… I betrayed your trust. I know how important that is to you, and I never should have—"

"You were just doing your job, Damien," I say. "I understand. It's fine."

"No, it's not. It was wrong. You were more then just a job to Ev. I took it before I knew who you were, but once I saw it was you from the race, I knew that this wouldn't be a job." He chuckled. "Hanging around you would _never_ be a job to me."

"Damien…"

"I know, I know, you're spoken for." Another sad smile. "I'm not gonna press anymore. I know a lost cause when I see one. Unless your entire viewpoint changed in the past few days…"

"I'm sorry, but no."

"Can't blame a guy for hoping."

I sigh in a sad and tired way as I throw a french-fry back on my plate. "Hope. Primus, I'm starting to hate that word."

His brows scrunch together as he examines my face. We were sitting at a table outside of K.O. burger, but seeing as how it was nine o'clock on a Thursday night, no one else was here. So, no one was here to stare at me as I went off on my rant.

Jumping and spinning on him, I yell, "I'm sick of being everyone's hope! Everyone thinks that I'm so great and perfect, frag it, even my _name_ means hope, but all I ever do is cause a mess! I'm no hope! I'm destruction! I'll just be everyone's destruction."

"Ev—"

"Don't you dare tell me otherwise!" I snap. "I've heard everyone talking, and I'm not blind."

Damien just gave me an exasperated sigh. "How many times must I tell you? This isn't your fault. Life happens. Sure, I'll admit it. You have some shitty luck. But that's just life. It never throws anything at you that you can't handle."

Groaning, I flop back down in the table's chair, responding, "Well, life just _loves_ testing me."

He smiles. "You will be fine. I know you. Now, care to tell me what upset you so much to drive you from the base?"

I wince, realizing how much had happened since I told him to leave. "Primus, where to be begin… Bear with me, this is a lot."

I tell him everything. About my funk right after he left. About Wheeljack's return. I even told him about Ratchet figuring out what was wrong with me… and our solution. I could tell that he was upset over the fact that I was bonding myself to Wheeljack, but he remained quiet. I then began to fill him in on my birthday. Waking to the explosion, the comical situation I faced when I entered the room, the truth or dare (he burst out laughing when I told him about Arcee and Ratchet), and the presents.

Including the present that was currently breaking my heart.

"Oh, God, Ev. C'mere." He pulled me into a tight, and I didn't resist.

Deep down, I craved contact. I appreciated how the Autobots were careful with me, but I loved how the Decepticons seemed to crave contact with me. The Autobots had me when I was younger and more fragile, which instilled a stronger restraint needed between them and I. The Decepticons had me when I was a child, wild and growing into who I am today. The Autobots then got me back during my rebellious teen years, when I was trying to discover who I was. So the Autobots keep me at arms length, for my safety, but sometimes I just need to be close to someone.

Cliffjumper understood this. Wheeljack understands this. And apparently, Damien understands this too.

After a few minutes of just holding me like this, he chuckles lightly, and then says, "I think it's time for my gift." Pulling my head from its spot on his shoulder, I give him a puzzled look towards his grinning face. Something told me this gift would be… interesting.

* * *

_Four Hours_

"Stop peeking."

"You know that some of the others might kill you for this."

"Hey, you're seventeen. Live a little. It isn't like you don't have like forty piercings."

"I have six!" I yell at him indignantly. "And they're all on my ears. You make it sound like I have every inch of me pierced."

He looks up from his work and grins cheekily. "Well, I haven't seen every inch of you, so I can't be sure."

Narrowing my eyes, I snap, "If I wasn't scared about you messing up, I would have smacked you a while ago." His grin grows as his eyes dart back to his work. "Are you almost done?"

"Now, you can't rush this kind of work." He pauses to get a little more ink before turning back to my ankle. "Don't tell me you're reaching your pain threshold already?"

I snort. "Needles don't scare me. You tattooing some unknown design on my ankle does. How did I let you talk me into this? For all I know, you could be tattooing something obscene."

He chuckles. "Now why would I ruin someone so pretty with something like that? I'd be more likely to tattoo my name." My eyes grow wide, but before I can respond, he is laughing again. "Relax! Trust me, you're going to like this. Hopefully. And…" he makes one last light and fluid wipe with the rag on my ankle. "Done!"

Quickly and with one fluid motion, I spin my legs around dart towards the mirror. The pain is very minor in my opinion, especially considering the time I was infected with Airachnid's poison… After that experience, I practically have no pain threshold.

Before I fully reach the mirror in this closed shop that Damien claimed we were 'borrowing' for the evening, which means he picked the lock, his hands cover my eyes. "Seriously? Just let me see it!"

He chuckles and says, "Since you can't unwrap it, let me have this." He finishes guiding me towards the mirror. "Okay, on the count of three. One, two…" His hands moves, and he steps back quickly. "Three."

I can't help but gasp lightly. Upon my porcelain ankle was a metallic looking symbol. It was like the Autobots but different. He had blended the symbol with the Decepticon, and the metallic coloration of the tattoo made it look like a real metal insignia upon my skin.

His voice is hesitant as he begins to explain himself. "You may be an Autobot, but I know how you care for some of the Decepticons as well. All you want is for the two sides to be joined. If anyone can unite them, it's you, so I figured, why not embrace it." I turn to him, feeling tears brimming in my eyes. His eyes widen, and his voice is a slight bit panicked. "Do you not like it? I'm sorry, I should have asked—"

He stops when I suddenly lunge forward and hug him. "Shut up. Just shut up." I pull back from the hug and look him in the eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much. For understanding. For knowing what I want."

I suddenly realize how close I am to him. His face becomes serious, and then he begins to lean in and close his eyes. My hands are on his chest, and I freeze not knowing what to do. Just as he is a few mere inches from my face, fate intervenes.

Well, the shrill phone buzz does, at least.

Jumping back, I begin to rummage in the pockets of my coat. Damien sighs, obviously upset. "Let me guess, the boyfriend could sense that over his end of the bond!"

My eyes snap up to him, and I give him a sharp and serious look. "Wrong phone." I watch his eyes widen with realization as I find the shrilly, beeping phone. Motioning for him to be quiet, I answer in a confident and casual tone. "My, my. Look who decided to call. Is it time?"

A deep chuckle fills the line. _"Yes, my dear. It is. Though, I'm sorry to interrupt your moment…"_

I freeze but continue in a smooth tone. "What do you mean? I'm not busy right now."

"_Well then, Miss Prime,"_ My blood went cold, and Damien's face grew concerned upon seeing my distress. _"Let us retrieve you and your little friend. Damien is his name, am I correct?"_

I hung up the phone and grabbed hold of Damien's arm. Jerking him towards the exit, I say, "We need to move. Now!" He moves alongside me, pulling out a gun out of nowhere as I realize that I had left my stinger guns back at my bike. As we push open the back door, we are met by a blinding light from the idling vehicle floodlights that surrounded our escape.

I held my hand up to block the light as my eyes try to focus on the blurry shape stepping forward. "Are you ready, my dear?"

I snarl and yell back, "I told you that if you keep calling me that, you were going to regret it."

I can hear a sound of amusement from him, the steady hum of the vehicles filling the following silence. Then, he commanded, "Retrieve them. Alive."

* * *

_Three Hours_

The truck slowly bounced side to side down the road. It was dark, I was sitting curled next to Damien. My body ached. We had held our own for as long as we could, but there is only so much we could do against the overwhelming numbers and tech. Now, all we could do was wait on the rescue team, provided they find us in time.

Damien apparently shared these concerns. "Are you sure they will come?" he asks. "If they could track your phone, wouldn't they have done it already?"

Suddenly, the truck lurched to a stop, and I was thrown forward. Since my hands were bound and behind my back, my face skids into the floor. Damien gives out a startled cry of worry, but I just shift into a sitting position and say, "All we can do is hope."

The truck doors swing open, and Silas stood there, grinning. "Hope. Keep that my dear, Everon. Because, you are now in my realm, and here, hope is all you have. Once you lose that," his grin turned feral, "And trust me, you will lose it, then I will have won. And you, whatever makes you who you are, will have been destroyed."

* * *

Nothingness. I guess that's the best way to describe this place. Surrounded by white, no sound, no light. I… couldn't quite remember how I got here. I try to remember, to think…

_BANG!_

I scream. The sound scares me. Stop thinking of it. Forget it all. Remember something better. Think of something else…

I began to sing.

"_Close your optics, the storm will pass,  
__My Child,  
__You are safe in my arms."_

The lullaby seemed… so familiar. It made me feel safe. It reminded me of being content, happy. I remembered a voice, a deep, rumbling baritone with a hint of a pleasant scratchy quality to it. It was soothing.

I continued to sing.

"_Don't you know, I'll never let go?  
__And you  
__Are safe in my arms."_

I was aware of something… wrong with the words. The language I was using. It was… wrong. English. That was what I was speaking. But the lullaby… it was sung to me in another language.

I continued to sing.

"_And the Well will sing to you,  
__And the Well will sing to me,  
__And I will hold you close,  
__Until you fall asleep."_

"Everon…" That voice, it's so familiar… I turn around, and a tall, red mech stands behind me, silver chrome horns upon his head. Bright blue optics stand out on his face, filled with intense sadness. "Primus, it's not supposed to be your time yet…"

I cock my head to the side and stare. My mind is so hazy, but the familiarity is practically _screaming_ in the back of my head. I know him, but from where? Where…

I dart away, avoiding him, traveling further into the Nothingness. I don't want to know, I don't want to remember. I want to stay in the haze that clouds my mind.

I continued to sing.

"_Hush, my Sparkling, the day is near,  
__My Child,  
__You are safe in my arms."_

The mech moved to cut me off. "Ev, what are you doing here? What happened?" I look at him, puzzled. How did I get here? Where was here?...

_BANG!_

I screamed, and the mech began to panic. "Easy Ev, it's alright! I'm here." He scooped me up, and though part of me didn't like him just grabbing me, it felt… Where did I know him from? He cradled me to his chassis, and I weakly leaned against him. "Everything's going to be okay…" I slowly turned my gaze up to him, trying to remember where I knew him from…

I continued to sing.

"_Don't you know, I'll never let go?  
__And you  
__Are safe if my arms."_

"C'mon kid… Don't give into the haze." I cock my head to the side, staring at him again. "I know it's hard to remember, but you _have _to. Remember me. Remember our talks, the good times." I cover my ears while shaking my head, and begin to lightly rock in in his hand. I don't want to remember, but he continues to press. "We would go _everywhere_ together, tell each other _everything_. Primus, I was the only one on the team who you would open up to since we got you back. Ev…"

I continued to sing.

"_Primus, watch over my sparkling tonight,  
__And bring her safe to the morning light.  
__And I will hold her close to me,  
__Until she falls—"_

"Ev, I love you."

"…_asleep."_

My eyes widen, and I begin to shake. I know him. I know him. I _know _him. "Cliffjumper?..." I ask uncertainly.

The mech smiles in a faint manner, and then lightly stroked the top of my head with his spare hand. "That's my girl."

I felt a few tears form in my eyes. "You're dead…"

His face grows sad. "Yeah, I am." He sighs. "And you are too."

_BANG!_

I gasp, finally remembering the bits and pieces from my last hours of life. I was dead and gone, lost in this Nothingness. I remember the last time I was here, the time I met the angel. She had assured me that Cliffjumper would guide me from here when it was my time. I guess that time was now.

I turn my gaze to his sad, bright blue eyes. "It's time?" He nods. I give a sad smile and lean my head against his chassis again. "At least we shall join the Allspark together."

Then, a disembodied voice spoke up from the Nothingness. "Not quite yet." Turning, my gaze is met by a pair of violet, glowing optics in a shadowy form. "I have a proposition for you, Shadow Tronus."

* * *

"_Stand at a crossroads with no path to take.  
__How long will you fight before you must break?  
__You listened to fear and the weight of its lies  
__And you can't understand, you don't recognize_

"_That I'm always here:  
__Don't let grief cloud the truth  
__That you once thought so clear!  
__And you'll always know:  
__That life is a journey that's not without pain,  
__But you don't see a rainbow without any rain!_

"_My love, take my hand, I will not let you down  
__Take the hardships, the struggles, and trade for a crown.  
__You were born with a warrior's heart, don't forget,  
__Don't give in to the haze, Love, it's not over yet._

"_And our hearts are one:  
__You will walk from the mist, you will stand in the sun  
__Hold your head up high!  
__For life is a journey that's not without pain,  
__But you don't see a rainbow without any rain."_

* * *

**And my story is done! So, what did you think? Please let me know! I changed some of my ideas recently, so I'm hoping that you aren't confused. Now, I get to start working on the sequel! **_**Chasing Shadows of Angels**_** should be posted soon, so keep on the lookout!**

**The lullaby Ardent Aspen wrote is called **_**The Lullaby of Cybertron**_**. I had asked her to write it for my story because I had previously asked if I could use one of her other songs in a later chapter in **_**Chasing Shadows of Angels**_**. The end song is also by Ardent! She wrote it after I had her look over the chapter and I loved it, so I put it as a sort of end credit song. My roommate might even put it to music, so here's hoping!**

** Now, thank you to all who have made it through reading this! I have been going through the chapters recently and I have noticed some glaring errors… I think I'm going to start editing it over Christmas break and reposting the chapters. **

**Anyway, review! And tell me your opinions of the story as a whole! Likes, dislikes, the works!**


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